A Bismarck man has pleaded not guilty to terrorizing.

Taylor Boehm, 28, entered the not guilty plea to South Central District Judge Donald Jorgensen following a short preliminary hearing. He faces a two-year mandatory minimum prison sentence for use of a weapon if convicted of the Class Cfelony.

Boehm is accused of threatening four people with a gun early on the morning of Aug. 31. Bismarck Police Det. Dean Clarkson testified that each of the four people Boehm is accused of threatening told Clarkson Boehm had fired the 9 mm pistol in the air after jumping out at them in southwest Bismarck. Boehm told Clarkson the four men took the gun from him and fired it in the air, but a witness who saw the incident out of a window said Boehm fired it, apparently in self defense.

Clarkson said Boehm said he had gotten paid the day before, partied with a friend whose name he could not remember, then had property taken from him at a party, which included more than $600 and medication. While looking for the property, he got jumped and had "pretty significant" marks from the beating, Clarkson said. He said Boehm told him he retrieved the gun from a vehicle "to go back and intimidate people at the party."

Clarkson said the theft of Boehm's property was not investigated, because he could not tell police where he had been or who he had been with.

Ralph Vinje, Boehm's defense attorney, alluded to the possibility that Boehm getting the gun after getting beaten up was a defensive action. He said it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.

"If he was wise, he probably wouldn't be here today, as seems to be the case with most of the people I represent,"Vinje said.

Burleigh County Assistant State's Attorney Lloyd Suhr said the case should go to trial, and a jury can decide if the actions were in self defense. Suhr said retrieving the gun from the car seemed to start the incident.

"You are seeking the very confrontation he claims now he was protecting himself from," Suhr said.

Boehm is slated to appear at a pretrial conference in the case on Nov. 17.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com.)