A man involved in an ongoing property right-of-way dispute with his neighbor was found guilty of brandishing a firearm by a Gloucester Circuit Court jury on Tuesday.

The seven-member panel fined Clarence Bowser, 61, of Running Horse Lane, $2,500 after its guilty finding. Bowser was charged with brandishing a firearm following a standoff with Gloucester Sheriff’s deputies who tried to arrest him on a civil contempt warrant in July. The warrant was issued after Bowser allegedly blocked the right of way which a judge ordered cleared.

Sgt. Jason Klink of the Gloucester Sheriff’s Office testified he called Bowserwith a request to meet him at his Running Horse Lane property to discuss a crime report Bowser made earlier to the GSO. He admitted he misled Bowser. Klink said he was dispatched to serve the arrest warrant, and had two other officers backing him on the assignment.

Klink said as he waited near the gate, he saw Bowser approach wearing a gun in a western-style holster. Klink said he asked Bowser to step through the fence line toward his patrol vehicle, which he did. When informed he was under arrest, Klink said Bowser stated, "Hold on, I ain’t going to jail" and reached down for his weapon.

Klink and Capt. Ryan Cookson, one of two officers backing Klink from a distance, both said Bowser pulled his gun out of the holster but kept it pointed at the ground. The officers said they were afraid at that point. "I was afraid I was either going to have to shoot him or he was going to shoot me," Cookson said.

The officers said Bowser held the gun for several minutes before putting it back in the holster and retreating behind the gate. Bowser later agreed to take off the holster and an electroshock weapon was ultimately deployed to facilitate his arrest.

In his testimony, Bowser said he never removed the gun from its holster. He had been working outside when Klink called and had been wearing his gun all day because he lives near a swamp. He said when he went to meet Klink he had to get down on one knee to go under the fence to comply with the officer’s request to come on the other side.

As he knelt, Bowser said he pushed his gun back in its tipped holster. He said the gun had a loop around its hammer to secure it in the holster. "There was no way to pull it because it was locked in," Bowser said. He said Klink started running and yelling, "Gun, gun, gun" and the officers drew their weapons on him. "I knew if I touched that gun I was going to die," he said.

The jury deliberated about 30 minutes before finding Bowser guilty of brandishing the gun. The panel did not impose a jail sentence, which could have been up to 12 months. Bowser remains incarcerated for being in contempt of the court order.