Man Arrested for Holding a Banana
Not only is it not polite to point, it may get you a criminal record. Mesa County, Colorado, resident Nathan Channing, 27, was recently arrested for holding a banana, which police mistook for a gun, and allegedly pointing it at them.
From CBS Denver:
Channing told deputies he was doing a trial run for a YouTube video. "It's a banana!" Channing shouted as deputies drew their guns.
Still, deputies approached the fruit with caution. There were no cameras in the vicinity to suggest a YouTube video, they said.
"A lot of time it's how someone behaves and treats an object, depends on whether or not that object is actually dangerous or is a weapon," a sheriff's office spokesman said. He said the banana could have been a firearm in disguise.
"It this case, it turned out to just be a banana," he noted.
Shocking! What with the massive prevalence of faux-fruit firearms out there and all..
Though Channing initially faced two felony menacing charges, the DA's office has oh-so-magnanimously decided to lessen the charge to obstructing a peace officer, a misdemeanor. "I decided while Mr. Channing's conduct was felony stupid, it didn't really deserve a felony charge," Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger told KREX.
(Obligatory note of approval/mild surprise that, hey, at least Channing wasn't shot.)