VALDOSTA —
Two males were arrested Wednesday afternoon around 1 p.m. after Valdosta Police Department officers responded to a tip that they were in possession of a gun.
Nine squad cars arrived to the parking lot of Hardee’s in the 800 block of South Patterson Street, but it turned out to be a false alarm — the gun was a toy. The black toy gun with the flourescent orange trigger sat on the hood of a patrol car while officers questioned the two men.
Officers could be overheard asking why one of the men had given them a false name and telling him that was the reason he was in handcuffs.
Lt. Aaron Kirk with the Valdosta Police Department said a citizen had seen Johnny Mitchell, 31, throw the gun into a trash can at the Hardee’s.
Wayne Vann was out with his family selling watermelons at a nearby gas station and said that he was inside eating at Hardee’s and also saw the incident. He said he didn’t report the incident and that the man had not used the gun to rob anyone, he just threw the gun away.
“This is why you can’t let your kids sell watermelons anymore, because of stuff like this,” Vann said.
Mitchell and Kenneth Brown, 26, were both arrested and charged for warrants out of Brooks County. Lt. Kirk was unaware of what the warrants were related to.
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DAVID RODOCK | THE VALDOSTA DAILY TIMES Valdosta Police Department Officer Vernotis Williams escorts 31-year-old Johnny Mitchell after responding to a report of a firearm. Police later identified it as a toy gun, but Mitchell and a second man were arrested for probation violation in Brooks County.
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Toy gun leads to arrest of two men
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