GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — Prosecutors have reduced charges against a man who was arrested after two western Colorado sheriff’s deputies say he brandished a banana, which they thought was a gun.
Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger tells KKCO-TV (http://bit.ly/1FKTe3h ) in Grand Junction he decided to reduce charges against 27-year-old Nathen Channing from felony menacing to obstructing a peace officer, a misdemeanor. Channing was arrested Nov. 23.
Deputies Joshua Bunch and Donald Love said they feared for their lives even though they saw that the object was yellow. Bunch wrote in the arrest affidavit he has seen handguns in many shapes and colors.
He wrote that Love was drawing his service weapon when Channing yelled, “It’s a banana!”
Hautzinger says what Channing did “is certainly felony stupid, but I don’t think it necessarily needs a felony charge.”
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Information from: KKCO-TV, http://www.nbc11news.com
