Police requested emergency assistance to clear a large sideshow in San Rafael (File)
REDWOOD CITY – Officers used a 40mm less lethal launcher to take a man into custody after he allegedly threatened his neighbors with a realistic-looking pellet gun Sunday night in Redwood City, according to police.
Around 7:20 p.m., officers were called to the Redwood Mobile Estates at 2053 East Bayshore Road for a report of a man who was on the roof of a trailer and possibly firing a rifle, the Redwood City Police Department said in a news release.
The man was inside the trailer with his wife and 7-year-old son when officers arrived at the scene.
Members of the RCPD Crisis Negotiations Unit discovered the man had a prior arrest for a violent felony and began trying to coax him outside, according to police.
The man emerged from the trailer, but he was “highly agitated,” police said. To keep him from going back inside and possibly harming himself or his wife and son, officers fired a 40mm less lethal launcher at the man. He was struck twice, allowing officers to move in and detain him without further incident, according to police.
The man was treated for minor injuries and taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.
Police said the rifle turned out to be a realistic-looking pellet gun. Criminal charges are pending.
Originally published at Jason Green