BELFAST, Maine — A Thomaston man was in some hot water after allegedly pointing a gun at a Belfast police officer on Wednesday night at the Admiral Ocean Inn.
Brian Fogg, 20, was issued a summons on a charge of threatening display of a weapon after the March 9 incident, which began when Belfast Patrolman Brian Lunt went to the hotel room to serve a protection from abuse charge on someone else.
That person wasn’t in the hotel room, but after another young man opened the door to Lunt’s knock, the officer saw that Fogg was lying on the bed, Belfast Police Chief Jeff Trafton said Friday.
Lunt noticed immediately that the butt of a gun was “sticking out of” Fogg’s pants, Trafton said.
“He told this kid, ‘Dont’ touch the gun.’ The guy puts his hand on the gun,” he said. “The gun was pointed directly at Officer Lunt, because of the way the kid was lying on the bed. All he had to do was pull the trigger.”
Lunt “drew down” on Fogg, pulling out his own weapon and pointing it at the young man. All the while he was repeating, ‘Take your hands off the weapon,” Trafton recounted.
“He finally did, and raised his hands above his head. That defused the situation,” the chief said.
Fogg later told police that the gun had not been loaded.
Initially, the police were uncertain what the charge against him should be, so they consulted with the District Attorney’s Office to determine the correct violation, according to Trafton.
Police successfully served the protection order the next day.
“This was just a foolish incident. If the kid had just not touched the gun, there would have been no problem,” he said. “There was no need for that to even happen. By putting his hand on the butt of the gun, he nearly got himself shot.”