Case Dropped Against Rubber Band Gunman, 11

Local police arrested the boy Sunday for waving a toy gun from a truck.

ByABC News
June 6, 2007, 12:49 PM

June 6, 2007— -- The case of the boy and his rubber-band gun has quickly snapped.

The Florida State Attorney's office will not pursue charges against an 11-year-old suspect who was arrested Sunday for felony aggravated assault after an off-duty police officer noticed him brandishing a rubber toy shotgun from the front seat of his father's pickup truck and called the police.

"It was decided there was insufficient evidence to file the case," Daniel Tavernier, a spokesman for the state attorney's office, told ABC News. "The case is closed."

After receiving a tip from the off-duty officer, the Orange County Sheriff's Office detained the 11-year-old boy and his father until an officer from the Ocoee Police Department arrived, according to the charging affidavit.

At that point, the father insisted that his son had done nothing wrong. "I use to [do] it as a kid," the father, Christopher Law, told police, according to the charging affidavit. The boy also reportedly told authorities that he was simply pretending to be a policeman.

But police in Ocoee, which is 12 miles west of Orlando, arrested the boy on the felony assault charge after the off-duty officer -- the victim in this case -- said that the boy's behavior was interpreted as a threat.

"They're in vehicles, and when you see a barrel pointing at you, you don't know whether it's real or not," said Sgt. Randy Conyers, a spokesman for the Ocoee Police Department. "That in itself is serious."

Conyers defended his department's decision to proceed with the arrest.

"Violent crime all over the United States is up, and juveniles are committing the violent crimes," he said.

But while Conyers told ABC News Wednesday that the department stood by the charges and was willing to go forward with them in court, the decision had already been made by state attorney's office to drop the case.

The boy's father could not be reached by ABC News and it's unclear whether the 11-year-old boy will get his rubber-band gun back. Right now, the toy sits in evidence.