A 70-year-old man from Ohio was arrested after he walked into a local Walmart to return a defective BB Gun on Oct. 26, according to multiple reports.
Milton Baum arrived at the Walmart to return the defective BB Gun, but due to its close resemblance to that of a firearm, it had caused both employees and customers to fear their own safety, according to WCVB. The authorities were contacted regarding the incident, the news outlet reported.
“We are in the Walmart store on Cincinnati-Dayton Road, and there is a man threatening to shoot people with a gun in his hand,” a customer told the dispatchers, according to WCVB.
West Chester Police later arrived on the scene and arrested the 70-year-old Baum, according to New Haven Register. The gun was later revealed to be a BB Gun, to which Baum told authorities that he had bought the gun previously but found out that it was defective and decided to return it.
According to Washington Examiner, Baum said that he initially left the gun in his car when he went into Walmart to see if he could get the gun returned.
“I said, ‘Look, I bought this defective BB Gun, and I want to return it.'” Baum said. “This guy is giving me attitude, and I said, ‘Sir, I don’t know how much common sense you have. You know who you remind me of? The hall monitor in high school.'”
According to Washington Examiner, the comments that the 70-year-old made to the employee did not go over well. However, another employee told Baum to bring the gun into the store for the return, which caused the commotion that led to Baum’s arrest.
Baum claimed that he did not threaten anyone during the incident, although according to court documents, employees alleged that he had threatened to shoot someone, WCVB reported.
“It’s a BB Gun. It doesn’t have a firing pin. It doesn’t have bullets in it,” Baun said according to WCVB. He denied having threatened anyone with the gun.
A spokesperson for Walmart had released a statement regarding the incident, stating, “We applaud the quick actions of our associates and are thankful that no one was injured. We appreciate the swift response of the West Chester Police Department, and will refer additional questions to them.”
The West Chest Police ended up charging the 70-year-old with inducing panic, menacing, and aggravated menacing, to which he plead not guilty, according to WCVB. The news outlet reported that Baum will be back in court on Nov. 15.
