RALEIGH — The son of former state Crime Control secretary Bryan Beatty – 20-year-old Bryan Elliot Beatty Jr. – was being held Thursday in the Wake County Detention Center on three felony weapons charges and misdemeanor charges of underage drinking, resisting arrest and violating probation.

The younger Beatty was arrested on the misdemeanors Wednesday night, according to an online report. After he had been brought before a magistrate and was being held on those charges, authorities served arrest warrants for the felony charges early Thursday.

All of the charges stem from an incident Feb. 3 at the Washington Terrace Apartments on Booker Drive, near St. Augustine’s University.

While a Capitol Special Police officer was trying to confirm the identity of some men sitting in a car and drinking alcohol, the men ran away, according to Chief Roy Taylor said.

The car, which turned out to belong to the younger Beatty, was impounded and a search turned up two handguns – a .38-caliber revolver and a .22-caliber semi-automatic – and a ski mask. One of the guns had been reported stolen.

He is currently serving 24 months of probation, records show from a Jan. 8 conviction of conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon.

On Jan. 20, 2012, Raleigh police had charged Beatty with going armed to the terror of the people after an incident in which residents of the Walnut Creek Apartments said they saw him waving a shotgun.

Police surrounded the building where Beatty apparently was living and he surrendered peacefully after a 90-minute stand-off.

He was later was released to his parents’ custody.

On Wednesday’s warrants, Beatty’s address is listed as 2400 Millstone Harbour Drive, his parents’ home.

The elder Beatty led the former Department of Crime Control and Public Safety from 2001 to 2009. Since 2009, he has been a member of the North Carolina Public Utilities Commission.

Beatty was being held Thursday at the Wake County jail, his bail set $228,000.

Gallagher 919-829-4572