Talk about a rude awakening.
A Maine man woke to a SWAT team outside his door Tuesday after his tattoo of a gun was mistaken for the real thing.
Michael Smith of Norridgewock didn't want state contractors cutting trees on his property. When he heard a work crew moving in with equipment, Smith, who works nights, went outside to tell them to buzz off.
As the Morning Sentinel tells it, Smith didn't bother to put his shirt on when he approached the workers. That's where the trouble started. The crew agreed to leave, but one of them thought he saw a gun tucked into the waistline of Smith's pants.
Smith went back to sleep, but was awakened a short time later when state police paid him a visit, informing him via megaphone to come out of the house.
According to the Press Herald, when asked if he had any weapons on him, Smith said, “Yeah, I got this gun on me all the time. It’s tattooed on."
Fortunately, the situation was promptly resolved before any further mistakes could be made. Smith wasn't charged.
“Obviously it was a misunderstanding and he didn’t have a weapon, but we had to respond to the initial report as if he did,” Maine State Police Trooper Scott Duff told the Morning Sentinel. “We take all precautions when we don’t have the details.”
Smith said the gun hadn't caused him trouble before.
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