BEATRICE – Beatrice Police responding to a fight at a south Beatrice bar late Wednesday night arrested a man on suspicion of gun charges and other violations.

Arriving officers saw several men running to the south side of the bar and ordered them to get on the ground. One of the men, recognized by police as 23-year-old Wesley White of Beatrice…took a handgun from the back of his waistband and tossed it about five feet away.

During a search, police found White to be in possession of 30-round magazine. Police said one 9-millimeter round and a baggie of a white powdery substance fell from White’s pocket, as he was being taken to a patrol car.

A witness told police that White and another male had instigated a fight inside the bar….and that White allegedly pointed a handgun at him outside the establishment. Two men who were confronted by the armed man went back inside the bar and locked the door.

After being taken to the Gage County Jail, officers noticed the serial number on the handgun that was recovered had been defaced and removed. Police said the baggie recovered tested positive as cocaine.

White was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, making a terroristic threat, use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony and possession of a defaced firearm.