Bailiffs seized a toy gun from a teenage spectator in 2nd District Court Tuesday. The youth earned a stern lecture from the judge.
A bystander informed a court clerk that he'd seen a gun in the hand of one of a group of students from Mountain High School entering the courtroom of Judge Jon Memmott.The clerk told bailiff Ron Arnold, who called for assistance from fellow bailiff Niles Stahle.
Looking over the group of students, Arnold said none matched very closely the description of the youth supplied by the bystander, so he and Stahle ordered the entire group out of the courtroom and into the hallway.
He told them he had a report of a handgun and they would be allowed back into the courtroom after a search.
At that point, one of the boys produced a small plastic toy gun, Arnold said.
"It was only plastic, but it looked like a real gun," Arnold said. "I told their teacher that if we'd seen it in court, we'd have drawn down on them."
Arnold confiscated the toy and turned it over to Memmott.
The judge, who had planned to talk to the group about the judicial system anyway after the court session, said he added a few words about the incident. Although it was not a real gun, it could have earned the owner criminal charges for bringing it into court, Memmott said.
No charges were filed.