Major Police Response to South Windsor Park for Naught

SOUTH WINDSOR, CT - An onlooker witnessing what he thought was a kidnapping at gunpoint called police Monday night, prompting a frenzied rush to a South Windsor park.

When officers from South Windsor and neighboring Vernon arrived, they discovered three men who said they were merely filming a scene for a school project, Deputy Chief Scott Custer said.

However, the men's lack of forethought to notify police that one of them would be holding a facsimile gun and another would be bound with tape and his mouth duct-taped shut led police to issue them tickets for creating a public disturbance, Custer said.

The incident took place around 7:45 p.m., when a resident noticed a man holding a gun to another man who was bound and gagged and stuffed into the trunk of a Ford Mustang at Lawrence Road Park.

Cruisers from both towns rushed to the scene and discovered a camera mounted on a tripod, and three young men who said they were working on a film project, Custer said.

The deputy chief said the men were issued infraction tickets because they were on town land, in full view of the public and had not bothered to notify police of their intentions.

"If they had called and told us what they had planned, we would have sent an officer up there," Custer said.

He added the citizen who called police was doing exactly the right thing under the circumstances.

"See something, say something: we are thankful that this was not a real incident and we appreciate the response by Vernon police officers," Custer said. "As you can see, the citizen reporting this was well-founded in his fears for the safety of the man in the trunk. From 50 feet away, do you think the officer can tell that's a facsimile firearm?"

Police have not yet identified the three men involved in the incident.

Photo courtesy of South Windsor Police Department