Toy Gun Mayhem: An Assault or Just an Ass

[XLFD]

The news could come from the Oceana County Press since the alleged perpetrator was an 18 year old from Hart, but the craziness happened here in Mason County, as reported by the Mason County Press:

PERE MARQUETTE TOWNSHIP — An 18-year-old Hart man was arrested Tuesday night for allegedly pointing a gun at another vehicle while traveling west on U.S. 10 about 7:30 p.m. According to Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole, the man was a passenger in a vehicle. He reportedly pointed a gun at another vehicle occupied by a woman and her 16-year-old daughter, who called 911 and reported the vehicle description and license plate.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Derrek Wilson was able to locate the then-unoccupied vehicle in the Dunham’s Sports parking lot in the 4500 block of West U.S. 10. Wilson called for back up but the vehicle’s occupants had returned and then left before back up could arrive. Wilson then followed the vehicle to Wal-Mart, in the 4800 block of West U.S. 10. Wilson then stopped the vehicle and was backed up by three more county units and a Ludington Police Department unit. A witness told MCP that officers had their firearms pulled on the occupants of the vehicle.

Sheriff Cole said deputies found an air soft toy gun with an orange cap partly broken off in the vehicle.  The man was arrested and charged with assault. He is lodged in the Mason County Jail. The other two occupants of the vehicle were not arrested (end article).

With the given information, is the young man from Hart who pointed this toy gun (complete with at least partial orange tip indicating its toy-ness) guilty of any type of assault?  Is it useful to hold him in jail on such a charge while there doesn't appear to be any malicious intent involved with the deed?

Surely, it is foolish to point even a toy gun at some other vehicle while going down the highway, it can easily lead to accidents and other mayhem, and should be strongly discouraged:

But should it lead to hard jail time and an assault charge?  Assault is an intent crime, or at least a 'perceived intent' crime.   Pointing a toy gun at someone who isn't aware it's a toy isn't assault unless you somehow convey you are intending to harm them with your faux replica.

Ironically, the four Mason County Sheriff units and Ludington Police Departments who surrounded the vehicle with guns drawn and pointed in the general direction of two innocent people and one foolish passenger (who assuredly felt threatened for their lives, given the situation) are more akin to be victims of an 'assault' charge. 

But as Sergeant Derek Wilson found out back in 2009, when he and a group of other law enforcement officers repeatedly assaulted an admittedly innocent-of-any-crime Joseph McAdam by leg sweep takedowns, taser charges, and beat-downs on the street, and later on in sanctity of the hospital, that area cops are immune to assault charges.  They can even say the assault victim was them. 

Kids without real guns and without intent have no such immunity.

[NYC]

http://whnt.com/2014/12/12/real-guns-disguised-to-look-like-toys-po...
In my opinion the police were in the right. The occupants of the vehicle he pointed it at surely perceived a threat, should he do years in jail - undecided. But I do think he should be punished in some way so that he realizes he is STUPID. His prank could have gotten him killed and others as well.

[Willy]

The police did their jobs. As far as I'm concerned this was an assault. The woman had no idea it was a toy gun and as far as anyone else knows, it could have been a real one. The gun the loser flashed could have been  real and he could have stashed it before entering town. A good 10 days in the local jail will give the idiot time to consider what he did unless he has a history of being a f-up, then he should be dealt with more harshly. 

[stump]

One think for sure , he probably won't do it again. But who in there right mind would point a gun, even a toy gun at another car. He probably thought it was funny, not so much now. The police did there job on this one, lucky there wasn't a shoot out with cap pistols against 44's magnums or what ever the cops have.

[XLFD]

The point I was trying to key on in the article was not whether the police did everything properly leading up to the mitigation of the incident; with the given information that is hard to debate.  They were investigating someone allegedly brandishing a weapon and took precautions for their own safety when they found the vehicle in question and determined that the gun was a toy, ironically after about five officers pulled and pointed their own real guns on the vehicle's occupants, effectively assaulting two innocent people when the same standards are applied. 

A misinterpreted action or an itchy finger could have easily led to someone being shot by an officer in fear for their life or their fellow officer's life.  This could be reasonably argued as an acceptable tactic, however, given the nature of the complaint.

What I was hoping was input about the punishment of the crime.  The perp allegedly pointed a toy gun at a vehicle, possibly to impress the 16 year old girl in the other car, but was seen by the mother too, who interpreted it as a threat to her safety.  This is an element of criminal assault. 

But the other element of criminal assault is the assaulter's intent.  Nothing in the article leads me there, it actually leads me away from the criminal intent angle.  The gun was 'pointed at the vehicle' not anyone in it, the car stopped at Dunham's and he didn't commit similar 'assaults' there, nor was there any issue at the traffic stop. 

An assault charge minus clear intent should not be considered in my opinion, stupidity should not be a crime.  I just wish words were like little toy guns, no sting, no hurt, no one: 

[Willy]

How is anybody supposed to interpret or predict an "assaulter's" intent? If it is misjudged as being harmless but turns out not to be so, then, someone could end up dead. Often times stupidity is a crime when an illegal act is attached to it. Heaven help the shmuck that points a pistol at anyone in my family.

[stump]

Myself not being into guns on what sizes or shapes look like , I didn't know about the orange cap that is on toy guns today to show the difference between real and toy . When I was a kid long long time ago we had cap guns and later a bb gun till about 12 years old, no orange end caps back then. That was the end of guns for me. Apparently the woman driver didn't see orange either or didn't know about the orange cap . This was not a 6 year playing in the back of the car. It became a serious situation when police pulled their weapons on the suspect in their vehicle. Assaulting them? What would a reasonable person do, walk up to the car and knock on the window and say you guy's got any guns? I can see this could have went bad real quick. The charge of criminal assault? I don't know , but sure they will charge him with something. Also ,what were they looking for at Dunhams Sports? possibly a real gun/guns? them to Wal-Mart , maybe a cheaper gun ? You know their prices are always lower priced.

[Willy]

According to the LDN the weapon that was being brandished was an "airsoft" model of firearm. Non lethal but many of them look like the real thing.

Airsoft guns are replica firearms, or a special type of air guns used in airsoft, that fire spherical projectiles of many different materials, including (but not limited to) plastic, aluminum, and biodegradable material. This is achieved by a technical solution of either:

• compressed gas
• spring-driven piston
• electrical piston
• a combination of electrical- and spring-driven piston
• hydraulics

Depending on the mechanism for driving the pellet, an airsoft gun can be operated manually or on a cyclic basis. The cycling mechanism is implemented by either compressed gas (such as Green Gas [mix of propane and silicone] or CO₂) or by compressed air (via a spring or an electric motor pulling a piston).

http://www.sportsauthority.com/Outdoor-Equipment/Airsoft/Guns/famil...