Newport Beach : Brandishing of Toy Gun Lands Youth in Custody
A 17-year-old juvenile was apprehended Wednesday night and turned over to his parents after police said he leaned out of his car and threatened to blow off the head of a limousine driver with what appeared to be an Uzi submachine gun.
The weapon proved to be a replica pellet gun, and not the compact, Israeli-made firearm.
“It looks 100% like the real thing,” marveled police spokesman Kent Stoddard. “If you had the real gun and this gun side by side, you couldn’t tell the difference.”
The juvenile, whose name was not released, was lucky not to get hurt, Stoddard said, in view of recent violence on Southland freeways. But the limousine just sped away from the teen-ager’s Honda, he said.
Police heard the youth’s threat as he drove past the Balboa Pier, shouting expletives at about 11 p.m., Stoddard said.
Police did not know whether charges would be filed in Juvenile Court.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
