MP3 Player Was Not Gun

Darren Nixon, a 28-year-old British mechanic, was arrested at gunpoint, held in a cell, and forced to submit to a DNA swab, fingerprinting, and mugshot after a woman saw him walking down the street listening to his MP3 player (a Philips SA6045 from the looks of it).

She alerted the authorities, who located the man on closed-circuit television surveillance cameras. A number of squad cars tailed the bus he rode home from work, but he didn't notice, he says, because he was listening to his music. On the walk home from the bus stop, his predicament became clearer:

"I got off and started walking home. I saw this cop gesture at me andat first I couldn't hear what he was saying. I turned the music off andthey were telling me to put my hands up in the air.

"As I got closer I could see that two of the cops had guns.
There were two police dogs there as well. I was searched at the scenethen hauled off to the station and interviewed.

"I was really shocked when I saw the guns. They were pointingthem right at me. It was a pretty scary experience. I had no idea whatwas going on.

"I wasn't happy at all about it. I didn't even really get a proper apology from the police.

"They just dropped me off at home and said a quick 'sorry forany inconvenience', and that was all I got from them, which I thoughtwas pretty out of order."

For their part, the cops say their witness claimed Nixon gripped the MP3 player like a gun:

"We received a report from a member of the public who had seen a male inthe area who had appeared to pull a hand gun from a jacket pocket, gripit with both hands and aim it towards something."

As commenters on the Daily Mail point out, his DNA, mugshot, and fingerprints will likely be kept on file.

(image from dailymail)