Charged With Threatening Motorists on I-405 : 3 Youths Caught in Cap Gun Caper

In an freeway gun-scare incident that police officers termed “not funny,� three youths were arrested on charges of threatening motorists with a plastic cap gun on the San Diego Freeway, the CHP reported Friday.

CHP Officer Ken Daily said the boys were arrested in the San Juan Capistrano area Thursday night after pointing “a very real-looking� cap gun at motorists in the Irvine area.

The boys were not identified because of their age. Daily said the driver of the youths’ car was 17 and from Upland; one passenger, also from Upland, was 14, and the other passener was 15, from Claremont.

Flagged Down CHP Officer

A woman motorist alerted the CHP to the incident about 7:45 p.m. Thursday. Daily said the woman, who wasn’t identified, flagged down a CHP officer on the freeway and gave a description of the car.

The woman and other witnesses, Daily said, told the CHP that the youths had been pointing a pistol at other motorists on the freeway near the Culver Drive exit. The car was southbound.

A car matching the description was stopped by CHP officers in San Juan Capistrano after it left the freeway at Pacific Coast Highway and turned onto Doheny Park Road. Daily said officers arrested the three youths in the car on charges of brandishing--a charge that Daily said includes threatening people with a simulated weapon.

“The officers found a plastic cap gun in the glove box of the car,� Daily said. “I have the gun right here, and I can tell you it looks just like a .38-caliber weapon. It’d be very hard for anyone to tell it’s not a real gun.

“I’m just glad someone who was threatened didn’t have a gun in his car; he might have shot to protect himself and killed one of those kids.�

Turned Over to Parents

The juveniles were turned over to their parents after being cited on the misdemeanor charges, Daily said.

In another gun scare on an Orange County freeway, the Highway Patrol and Westminster police said they received a report of a man standing near the San Diego Freeway near Heil Avenue “with a shiny object� that witnesses thought might be a gun. The man reportedly was seen about 10:15 a.m. Friday near the freeway, but no shots were fired.

Westminster police and the CHP rushed to the scene but found no man in the area. Lt. Steve Martinez of the Westminster police said Friday afternoon that the sighting was never confirmed by investigators.