Law enforcement officials in Maine thought a Norridgewock man was holding a firearm when, in fact, it was just a tattoo of a gun on his stomach.
According to a report by the Morning Sentinel, Michael Smith went out of his house on Tuesday morning after tree trimmers roused him from his sleep. He trooped outside with no shirt on, and told the shrub removal company to get off of his property.
The workers called local police after they caught a glimpse of what looked like a gun tucked into the waistband of his pants.
Smith went back to bed, but was awakened once more a few minutes later, when Maine State Police knocked on his front door flanked by a lineup of troopers wielding assault rifles in his driveway, the Morning Sentinel reported. Through a megaphone, officers instructed Smith come out of the Norridgewock home.
Smith did have a gun, but not physically - it was tattooed on his belly.
Police didn't file any charges against Smith, but officers did say they regard firearm threats as a top priority.
"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."
Workers from the Lucas Tree Experts who were preparing to cut down a line of trees surrounding power lines on Smith's estate told police they thought they saw a handgun in the Norridgewock resident's waistband.
"They weren't 100 percent sure what he was saying, but he was yelling and they thought it could be some sort of threat," Duff told the Morning Sentinel. "They thought he was yelling something to the effect of doing harm, but when we got a hold of him, it ended up just being a tattoo."
Both Smith and police confirmed the whole thing was a misunderstanding.
"I got plans today," Smith told reporters after the scene was cleared. "I didn't want to get shot."
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