While Nerf guns continue to be a popular toy of choice amidst young kids, one such child – only 10 years old – was arrested on July 24, 2019, along with his friend of the same age for playing with said toys.
As the story reportedly goes, Gavin, age 10, had been wielding a broken Nerf crossbow that was unable to fire with his friend who had a similarly broken toy rifle. The two were pretending they were firing their bright orange toy weapons at passing vehicles while imitating Fortnite characters. One driver, however, felt threatened enough to stop driving and back up his truck so he could yell at the two boys. They reacted by running to one of the boys’ grandfather’s house.
However, this didn’t stop the angry driver, who continued to follow the boys back to the house. As a doorbell camera video shows, the man ended up yelling at an adult who answered the door.
“I don’t know what kind of gun it is. It was some kind of gun,” the man is seen shouting.
The person within the house asked the man to “watch his mouth,” but the man only continued to yell.
“How about this? How about I call the [expletive] cops?” the man is then heard saying.
Deputies from El Paso County Sheriff’s Office were then dispatched to arrest the two boys. They drove them in handcuffs to the Colorado Springs police headquarters for fingerprinting and mugshots. Gavin was finally released to his parents later that night at 10:30 PM.
Apparently Gavin’s parents, Steve and Stefanie Carpenter, ultimately hired an attorney. But as Pluralist states –
“They said the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s office was adamant about pursuing the charge of menacing, which is a class five felony. Chris Carpenter told KXRM that they opted for a rehabilitation program that allowed Gavin to avoid a conviction.”
Gavin finally had his record expunged after performing community service, writing an essay, and delivering his grades for court review. It took seven months for his record to finally be cleaned. The family’s Facebook post can be viewed below: