It began as a report of an attempted bank robbery, but turned out to be nothing more than a man's distinctive belt buckle. Police surrounded the Wells Fargo Bank branch on Camino Ruiz near Mira Mesa Boulevard in Mira Mesa at 11:42 a.m. after someone in the bank reported a man had what looked like a gun under his shirt.
The man, 24-year-old Jacob Johnson of Rancho Peñasquitos, was wearing a dress shirt, casual slacks and a belt with a gun-shaped buckle when he and his friend and neighbor, Jeffrey Russell, entered the bank.
Several minutes later they walked out of the bank to see 10 to 15 police officers with their real guns pointing at them, Johnson said.
“They said 'Put your hands in the air,' ” he said.
Officers then handcuffed both men and put them in the back of separate police cars.
By 12:04 p.m. Sgt. Jim Schorr said, officers determined that the situation was “code four” – police jargon for everything's back to normal.
Johnson and Russell were let out of the police cars and released.
But, Johnson complained, “They called me an idiot and said 'I can't believe you were wearing that right now.' ”
Though he finds some of the incident amusing, he feels police could have handled the situation better.
“I mean, it's a belt buckle with half a gun,” Johnson said. “It's on my waist. If it's a gun, it's pretty amazing that it can just float on my waist.”
Link & Image: SignOnSandiego
Tags: Gun Belt | Robbery | Bank
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