Asheville police say multiple calls were made to 911 around 1:40 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2023, reporting a man with a gun approaching, blocking and damaging several occupied vehicles in a parking lot of a business in the area of Biltmore Avenue and Meadow Road. Sadiq Wayne Harris was arrested and charged with False Imprisonment, Injury to Personal Property and Assault by Pointing a Gun. (Screenshot of witness video, courtesy of Asheville Police Department)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) —
One person is in custody after being accused of threatening people in a parking lot in Asheville with a weapon that turned out to be fake.
The Asheville Police Department (APD) says multiple calls were made to 911 around 1:40 p.m. on Jan. 31, reporting a man with a gun approaching, blocking and damaging several occupied vehicles in a parking lot of a business in the area of Biltmore Avenue and Meadow Road.
APD says victims reported the man damaged two cars by banging on them with his gun.
Officers in the area who were responding to a separate incident saw the suspect "holding and pointing what appeared to be a gun at an occupied car," APD's release says.
As police took the suspect into custody, they recovered what turned out to be a fake pistol.
"Threatening to harm someone - whether or not the weapon is fake - is still a crime," the department says in its release.
