Man Arrested For Making Baby Smile

by Elise Nersesian (Subscribe to Elise Nersesian's posts)
Feb 9th 2009 1:00PM

Filed under: In The News, Weird But True

Last week eight police cars filled with armed officers swarmed a London man in his 50s and arrested him on the street. His crime? Trying to make a baby laugh.

The man (who has not yet been named) allegedly, approached the baby and its mother with a "silver ray-gun", which lights up and makes a buzzing noise when the trigger is pulled. He pointed the toy at the baby and said, "Pow-pow!"

23 year-old mother Alison Edmonds said she doesn't know the man, and immediately called the police, who sent an armed response team to find and arrest the man, who was waiting for a bus less than a few hundred yards away.

"It was unbelievable," said Edmonds, who told police a man with a gun had threatened her and her baby.

Eyewitnesses were stunned, saying, "What happened next was truly astonishing. I've never seen anything like it. These eight cars screamed to a halt and surrounded the poor man at the bus stop."

"They were fully kitted out with machine guns, rifles and everything."

"The man didn't know what was happening. All he was trying to do was make the baby crack a smile."

Police seized the man's toy ray gun and arrested him on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm in a public place.

This is sort of ridiculous. On one hand, I understand the mother's concern -- a total stranger was playing with her baby. And although in 2008 the crime rate in London fell by 6.5%, I can't say I wouldn't panic if a total stranger started playing with my baby. However, eight cop cars rushing to the scene seems extreme.

Do you think this mom did the right thing by calling the cops, or was she over-reacting? What would you have done in the same situation?

ReaderComments (Page 2 of 2)

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2-13-2009 @ 10:45AM

Cee said...

This is the most stupid thing I have ever heard!!!!!
What an IDIOT to waste police time over something so stupid.
I don't even have words to express how dumb this woman is, she probably shouldn't be bringing up a child.
Get a grip, no one cares about your baby.

2-11-2009 @ 10:53AM

hooplaw said...

This is why there should be a licensing process to have a child. Noone should be this mentally ill, albeit temporarily as some people have cited, and be taking care of a child.

Next time she sees a fire on TV she might throw the kid out of a window.

2-12-2009 @ 10:40PM

Paul R Wilson said...

TESTING

2-12-2009 @ 10:39PM

The whole affair was ridiculous. The woman -and the London bobbiers - wildly over-reacted. While those hysterics were arresting that man, they might have been needed to deal with a real crime elsewhere.
BUT in a nation where a person who takes a snap of his OWN children in a playground is chargable with pederasty, you can expect cops to act like those on Rowan Anderson's THIN BLUE LINE ...

2-11-2009 @ 10:44AM

bullsballs said...

I am a grand father, and I believe the man in question used VERY poor judgment...
Stick to smiling and waving, from a distance! Even then, children have been known to start crying from the approach of a stranger!
In todays society, anyone thought to be carrying a firearm is likely to be shot first and questioned later!
And the person who would carry a toy gun in public, should have a mental examination.
And if I was with my daughter and this happened, I would have called the cops myself,and held him with MY LICENSED firearm!

2-17-2009 @ 11:47AM

Neinei said...

What?? This whole story is a sad case of weird circumstances. Ill admit the guy had poor judgement, but he had good intentions..it simply went about it all wrong. But then, you think the appropriate way to react would be to pull your OWN gun out (in front of your child no less) and threaten HIM? Thats preparing your child for a very very stable life in the future where they think its okay to pull real guns on people on the drop of a dime. Now that's parenting! :D

This crazy lady should have told the toy gun guy to back off instead of jumping on the phone and making a false statement to police regarding what was going on. If the weirdo with the toy persisted, NOW would be the time to place a call for help... no? Crying wolf like that so quickly just drains your hard-earned taxes for absolutely nothing. If an adult cant even try to rectify this kind of situation without first trying to talk to the other person... said adult should stay the hell indoors. There's less risk there.

2-13-2009 @ 3:23PM

Nitro cream said...

You're as sick as that mother. You pull a gun on me and l would take it from you and beat you with it. Poor judgement on your part pal. Cops have enough to do without people like you crying wolf.

2-11-2009 @ 10:05PM

Parker Wilder CMH Investigations said...

What kind of a paren't would do such a thing as this? Use your weapon on a seemingly harmless individual? Better have a good reason to pull that weapon. I.E. your life better be in real danger. Sir, I have a Bachelor(working a master's) of Science degree in Forensic Psychology and hold a Florida Class G Firearm license, so i can and do Carry too Firearms on me on Duty as a private investigator.

I would never dream about pulling my weapon at anyone unless i felt my life was in eminent danger, and I would never pull it around my child.

You must be some kind of back woods hill billy to even suggest such a thing.

Someone should have taken your children away.

2-13-2009 @ 11:23AM

cee said...

"bullsballs"..... to me represents everything that is wrong with society today.
A child has been known to cry at the approach of a stranger? A child learns this from parents and it shouldn't be happening if it is. "Strangers" make up....pretty much erm the rest of the population apart from yourselves, how is a child ever going to grow into a fully functioning member of society with that kind of attitude!
The man may have employed poor judgement in thinking that someone in this day and age had a sense of humour. I HATE how everyone over reacts to everything! You cannot even move in this country without offending someone somehow it seems.
Parents.....NOT everyone is a rapist or a paedophile! Just face it.....your kids are not that interesting to other people, maybe then you can get get on with your lives instead of obsessing over it.....sickos.

3-07-2009 @ 9:01PM

Ty said...

Most toy guns are sold in small shops and stores of which the majority are open to the public, getting said item to one's home would also require a trip through said public space.
If that is how you would truly react I think that your license to carry needs a re-evaluation and possibly further psychological testing, seriously, before we lose another Shakespearean actor or something.

2-11-2009 @ 1:53PM

Chuck said...

What a geek this woman is, she needs psychotherapy, What a world we live in if this type of paranoia is allowed to continue, what is wrong with people??

Do any of you realize the child is a BABY? It has no idea what a gun is, all it saw was flashing lights and a buzzing sound. Over-reaction by the mother (and you). Mom should be charged with making a false statement. This incident will follow this man for life in the police files no matter what the outcome. She ruined his life over a trivial matter.

2-11-2009 @ 4:55PM

ken said...

OMFG all you people that say he made a mistake or poor judgement are retarded. He is a man in his 50's that said pow-pow. Its not like he said im gunna kill your baby. If you really think she made the rite choice then you are as crazy and paranoid as she is.people get a frickin life

2-11-2009 @ 9:53PM

Parker said...

So, I did and will not read all of the responses, but I think that a lot of you are out of out of touch with reality.

Firstly, a lot of you bring up pedophiles and such into this. We can't rule out that this man was not a pedophile, but we certainly cannot say that he is a pedophile either. I am 23 and sometimes buy silly toys. (certainly not to entice children)

For this woman to call the police seems a bit rash. She could have simply told the lad to get away. I am sure that would have worked.

It's a waste of tax payers money. What if at the that very moment someone was being murdered, or a child were actually being raped. Where are the coppers? Oh that's right. Dealing with an overly friendly man with a "silver ray gun"

2-12-2009 @ 12:29AM

Pete in the States said...

As a father of a two year old, it's quite common for women of all ages to approach me and my son and make small talk, admire him and pinch his cheeks, etc.

No man has never approach us or said one word since he's been born. And when I'm out an about, even when I'm with my son, I do not bother approaching women with kids to admire their offspring.

For whatever reason, all men are seen as potential rapists, molesters, killers, freaks, whatever. Women will avoid eye contact and treat strange men like lepers when they're out an about with kids.

It's a shame but a fact of life, at least where I live.

2-13-2009 @ 3:37AM

angel said...

I have kids of my own. And of course I get a little nervous when a stranger comes over to them. But I watch my kids. If the guy were to get to close...then make a big deal about it....but 8 cop cars for a "toy gun" and pow pow noises!! Please, lets get real here. The police have to many other things to worry about then a plastic gun and a over-reactive imagination of a mother. Just watch you kids and keep the really creepy ones at bay. You don't need machine guns and a full police unit for that.

2-17-2009 @ 4:41PM

Ray Gun said...

What I'm curious about is the mother's reaction after she realized it was just a toy gun and that the fellow meant no harm. I hope she was able to transcend her anger and apologize to him. Yes. Apologize. Did you know that sometimes men have a heart attack when cops arrest them? Even if he was wrong and silly, she should apologize to him for causing him such grief.

2-18-2009 @ 7:37AM

Don said...

Everyone over-reacted to the umpteenth degree,and that's putting it lightly. The woman calling the police for such a ridiculous reason should be charged with falsely accusing someone of a crime. Those pathetic excuses for police should go get real jobs that actually help society,they're a waste of tax dollars. I swear people have become so cowardly and hyper-reactive to the silliest, most inoffensive things. A world of Chicken Littles,disgraceful.

Um, both of my grandfathers were like this man around children and neither were molesters. It seems the case is he was anticipating a visit with his own grand child or children (hence the raygun gift) and was in that state mentally.

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