NORRIDGEWOCK (AP) — Police armed with assault rifles descended on a Maine man’s home after members of a tree removal crew he’d told to clear off his property reported that he had a gun.
Turns out the “gun” the tree crew had seen on Michael Smith of Norridgewock on Tuesday morning was just a tattoo of a handgun on his stomach.
Smith, who works nights, was asleep when the tree crew contracted by a utility to trim branches near power lines, woke him up at about 10 a.m. He went outside shirtless and yelled at them to leave. When he’s not wearing a shirt, the tattoo looks like a gun tucked into his waistband.
Smith told the Morning Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1l37m2f ) the tattoo has never been a problem before.
Police did not charge him.
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- In this Tuesday, March 18, 2014 photo, Michael Smith, left, stands beside a Somerset County Sheriff deputy outside his home in Norridgewock, Maine. Officers armed with assault rifles descended on Smith’s home after members of a tree removal crew he’d told to clear off his property reported that he had a gun. The “gun” the tree crew had seen on Smith actually was a life-sized tattoo of a handgun on his stomach. (AP Photo/Morning Sentinel, David Leaming)
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- Michael Smith, left, stands beside a Somerset County Sheriff deputy outside his home in Norridgewock on Tuesday. Officers armed with assault rifles descended on Smith’s home after members of a tree removal crew he’d told to clear off his property reported that he had a gun. The “gun” the tree crew had seen on Smith actually was a life-sized tattoo of a handgun on his stomach.
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- Trooper Scott Duff trains his rifle toward the home of Michael Smith in Norridgewock on Tuesday. Officers descended on Smith’s home after members of a tree removal crew he’d told to clear off his property reported that he had a gun. The “gun” the tree crew had seen on Smith actually was a life-sized tattoo of a handgun on his stomach.
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