Shrygue
May 27th, 2008, 19:50
via Computer and Video Games (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=189672)
Armed police raided a Manchester man's living room after they mistook his plastic Lara Croft mannequin for a gunman.
Computer shop owner David Williams, 42, had taken the dummy home to flog it on eBay (naughty, naughty!) but little did he know, his cheeky dealings would soon land him with a gun in his face.
Father-of-two Mr Williams had phoned the old bill after receiving nuisance phone calls from the local hoodies. Unknown to him, officers arrived and called for armed backup after spotting Lara's silhouette in the window.
Quickly the street was cordoned off and a team of armed officers burst through Mr Williams's back door.
"It would have been laughable if it hadn't been so terrifying," the battered shop owner said. "One of the police held a gun and yelled, 'Where's the weapon, where's the weapon?'
"I didn't have a clue what was going on, I assumed they'd got the wrong house. I couldn't believe it when I realised they'd mistaken a Lara Croft dummy for someone with a gun."
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said Williams failed to answer his front door. "They believed they saw a silhouette of a person pointing what appeared to be a firearm inside the house," she said.
"Officers then went into the house and found a mannequin holding a toy weapon." Police followed "correct procedure", she said.
Instead of feeling a bit embarrassed and apologetic, as you would do, police then chucked Mr. Williams in a cell for 13 hours and charged him with an expected firearms offence (and why not add tomb robbing as well?). That's your tax money at work, there, people.
He's now on bail and speaking to lawyers about possible wrongful arrest claims. Good thing he didn't take the Marcus Fenix dummy home...
[Source: Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-455037/Armed-police-raid-home-mistaking-Lara-Croft-dummy-gunman.html)]
Armed police raided a Manchester man's living room after they mistook his plastic Lara Croft mannequin for a gunman.
Computer shop owner David Williams, 42, had taken the dummy home to flog it on eBay (naughty, naughty!) but little did he know, his cheeky dealings would soon land him with a gun in his face.
Father-of-two Mr Williams had phoned the old bill after receiving nuisance phone calls from the local hoodies. Unknown to him, officers arrived and called for armed backup after spotting Lara's silhouette in the window.
Quickly the street was cordoned off and a team of armed officers burst through Mr Williams's back door.
"It would have been laughable if it hadn't been so terrifying," the battered shop owner said. "One of the police held a gun and yelled, 'Where's the weapon, where's the weapon?'
"I didn't have a clue what was going on, I assumed they'd got the wrong house. I couldn't believe it when I realised they'd mistaken a Lara Croft dummy for someone with a gun."
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said Williams failed to answer his front door. "They believed they saw a silhouette of a person pointing what appeared to be a firearm inside the house," she said.
"Officers then went into the house and found a mannequin holding a toy weapon." Police followed "correct procedure", she said.
Instead of feeling a bit embarrassed and apologetic, as you would do, police then chucked Mr. Williams in a cell for 13 hours and charged him with an expected firearms offence (and why not add tomb robbing as well?). That's your tax money at work, there, people.
He's now on bail and speaking to lawyers about possible wrongful arrest claims. Good thing he didn't take the Marcus Fenix dummy home...
[Source: Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-455037/Armed-police-raid-home-mistaking-Lara-Croft-dummy-gunman.html)]