Local Man Charged with Child Endangerment; Police Remove Kids, Small Menagerie of Animals

Police arrested a Burnsville man last week and took away his two children and a variety of animals after they found a loaded revolver and an unsheathed knife where the children, 9 and 1, could easily reach them.

Joseph Victor Pierce, 33, is charged with child endangerment and negligent storage of firearms, both gross misdemeanors with maximum penalties of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Pierce is also charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia in the May 23 incident at his home in the 400 block of 157th Street Court.

According to the criminal complaint, a Dakota County social worker asked Burnsville police to accompany him to Pierce’s home because of difficulties that county employees had with him on previous visits.

The social worker was investigating a report of unsafe conditions for children in Pierce’s home, along with no running water. He told police that Pierce – who has a conceal-and-carry permit – had made threatening comments the last time he was on the property, and that Pierce was carrying a handgun in a holster at the time.

When police and the social worker arrived at Pierce’s home on May 23, they saw Pierce’s 9-year-old daughter in the back seat of a car in the driveway. The child – who wasn’t in school because Pierce had called and claimed she was sick – told officers that she was cleaning the car, emptying milk bottles, removing diapers, stuffed animals, toys and other items. Police spotted a knife lying near the car.

As officers approached the house, Pierce yelled, “What?” and appeared “very agitated,” apparently believing that he hadn’t been told about the social worker’s appointment, according to the complaint.

Pierce was wearing two knife sleeves on his belt, and police saw him put one of two knives in a sleeve while they were on the property; officers asked him to remove the knives, which he did, the complaint says.

Pierce’s 1-year-old child was found buckled into his car seat near the driveway. While the social worker and Pierce were inside the house, officers attended to the children outside; at one point, Pierce came outside, picked up a metal stake and flung it on the ground about 2 feet from the 1-year-old.

Another officer noted a loaded revolver on the dashboard of an unlocked car in the driveway, the complaint charges.

Police asked Pierce if he had left a loaded handgun on the dashboard of his car; he replied that he had, and he was arrested, according to the complaint.

During a search, police found a small plastic bag containing marijuana and a glass pipe with burnt marijuana residue in his pants pocket.

Authorities took the children into protective custody. They also took away animals in the home, including a hedgehog, a sugar glider, quail, tame squirrels and six chickens.

Pierce’s criminal record includes previous convictions for possession of weapons, theft and being a public nuisance.