UK: Armed police raid home after mistaking Lara Croft dummy for gunman

[NineseveN]

Pics at the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770

Armed police raid home after mistaking Lara Croft dummy for gunman
James Tozer -
Last updated at 18:57pm on 15th May 2007


When police spotted a gun-wielding suspect lurking in the shadows of a suburban front room, their response was swift.

Armed officers burst into the house, shouted at the owner to lie on the floor, and ordered him to surrender his weapon.

But efficiency turned to embarrassment when the "gunman" turned out to be a life-sized model of the video game character Lara Croft, complete with trademark outsized pistols.

Computer shop owner David Williams, 42, had taken the dummy home to put it up for sale on the auction site eBay.

As the source of the confusion dawned on all concerned, it might have been the moment for an apology from the police.

Instead, however, Mr Williams was taken to the cells and held for more than 13 hours before being released.

He is now on bail for a suspected firearms offence, and Lara Croft remains impounded as evidence.



"It would have been laughable if it hadn't been so terrifying," he said yesterday. "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."

Father-of-two Mr Williams had phoned police after receiving nuisance phone calls, and officers arrived at his house in Dukinfield, near Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, shortly before midnight.

He says he did not hear them arrive, but unknown to him one officer had seen the dummy's silhouette through the front window and called for armed back-up.

Soon afterwards, the street was cordoned off and a team of armed officers burst in through Mr Williams's back door.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said officers peered inside after Mr 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.

They followed "correct procedure" by withdrawing to await armed officers, she added.

"Officers then went into the house and found a mannequin holding a toy weapon."

Mr Williams, who says he is speaking to lawyers about a possible claim for wrongful arrest, will hear whether he faces further action when he answers bail next month.

[jsb889]

I'm so glad they arrested that legally armed citizen standing by the window cleaning/dry firing her firearm and kept her in jail for 13 hours. Praise be to the police! We're much safer

Wait...you said "toy girl with toy gun?" Eh, arrest anyway!

[RocketFoot]

Holy Hell!

Where can I get one of those?

[NineseveN]

Originally Posted by RocketFoot

Holy Hell!

Where can I get one of those?

I'd sell you mine, but I don't think you'd want it...it's, uh, used.

[mjd932]

Those Brits...always good entertainment!

[Vortex]

Originally Posted by NineseveN

Pics at the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770

I believe the exact charges were "Letting the police embarrass themselves while being idiots in the lawful execution of their duties". On the other hand, if you tried to help them avoid the embarrassment of their folly, you would probably get arrested for resisting and/or interference. Sort of a UK Catch-22 as it were.

Apparently the UK has implemented a quota system that encourages meeting a specific target (quota) for arrests / citations independent of the nature of the infraction. Soooooo . . . . child defacing the pavement with chalk = one arrest. Catching a burglar that committed homicide during a home invasion = one arrest. Please refer to chart below for other top contenders in the race to preserve ordered society as we currently know it.



At this point I thing you need a career bureaucrat to do the complex statistical math that eventually evaluates to . . . . more arrests = more accomplishments = more societal safety. Q.E.D. Remember, it is fairly easy for a bureaucrat to count arrests, especially when the staff does the counting for them. By comparison, "common sense" is a rather abstract concept that rivals the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle in complexity (i.e. thinking is painful for any bureaucracy).

Also, in the latest news flash --- Water is still wet and management gets the behavior that it rewards, not necessarily the behavior that it pretends to ask for.

For more laughter or tears (depending on how it strikes you), try reading the article and comments located here. One word of caution though. In British English, "target" really means "quota" and the text makes more sense to USA English readers when you make that word substitution in your head while reading the article.

[Mtbkski]

Anatomically correct? The pistol I mean.

[lionsfury814]

thats hilarious...

[PA Rifleman]

These are some of the same Brits that think we're armed & dangerous. [8^/