Local News in Brief : Costa Mesa : Man Arrested in in Toy-Gun Incident

Police said a 19-year-old Downey man was arrested late Saturday on suspicion of brandishing a gun instead of paying $2 for his parking near the Orange County Fairgrounds.

The gun turned out to be a toy that shoots paint, said Costa Mesa police Lt. Gary Webster, but Costa Mesa passed a law last year that outlawed displaying a toy gun in a threatening manner.

Donald Kenneth Russell remained Sunday night at the Costa Mesa City Jail, where he was booked on an outstanding traffic warrant, police said. It was not immediately known what charges will be sought against Russell regarding the alleged threat, Webster said.

Also, police said they did not know whether it was the city’s first arrest involving the toy-gun law.

Shortly before 10 p.m., near the Fair Drive entrance to the fairgrounds, the driver and passenger of a Chevrolet Blazer failed to pay as they left a parking lot.

“They were trying to park without paying in the Southern California College, across the street from the fairgrounds,” Webster added, “when the passenger pulls out a gun and says, ‘How would you like me to pull the trigger?’ ”

An officer spotted the Blazer on Fair Drive and forced it to pull over. Although it looked real--”like a .45-caliber,” the gun turned out to be a toy used for a game in which opponents shoot paint blobs at each other, Webster said. The Blazer’s driver was not arrested, he added.