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Vigilante draws gun to defend Lake County war memorial, police say
Vigilante draws gun to defend Lake County war memorial, police say
As headlines swirl about armed vigilantes making a showing at protests across the country, Lake County sheriff's police said they responded to a war memorial this weekend to find one armed man reportedly trying to take matters into his own hands.
Officers responded about 10:35 p.m. to a memorial site, which commemorates Vietnam and Korean War veterans, at U.S. 231 and 145th Avenue in Leroy, according to a police report.
The man who called 911 claimed he was driving in the area when he thought he saw a male and female vandalizing the property, police said. So the man pulled out his pistol and kept it at a "low ready" stance as he approached the individuals, the police report states.
After officers responded to the scene, a man and woman told police they were in an argument and left their house to "have a civil discussion to work things out," the report states. Police said nothing appeared to be vandalized, and the individuals denied defacing or damaging anything at the site, the report states. The two individuals said the man with the gun approached them with "his hand behind his back," and was allegedly yelling at them, the police report states. The individuals said they complied with the man and noticed he had a pistol pointing down at the ground, the report states.
The Lake County officers advised the armed man he should not impose himself into a situation unnecessarily and that he should have contacted police if he believed criminal activity had occurred, the report states. Police further advised him not to take it upon himself to pull out a weapon unjustifiably, the report states.
The man and woman advised they did not want to press any harassment or intimidation charges but wanted the incident documented.