BAKERSFIELD, CA - Charges will not be filed against an elderly man arrested for false imprisonment and carrying a gun into a funeral home.
Supervising Deputy District Attorney Melissa Allen said, "He did not directly threaten any of the employees at the funeral home, didn't point the gun at anybody there. It was very clear he was there to kill himself and did not intend to harm anyone else."
Employees say 83-year-old Kenneth West pulled a handgun out of his briefcase Tuesday at Basham Funeral Care Center on Niles Street. Staffers say West, a military veteran and skin cancer survivor, was not violent. Funeral director Kent Smith intervened and wrestled the gun away from him.
Employees say West prepaid for his funeral just a week before the incident.
West's daughter tells us he was released from jail last night and is back home with family this morning.
