In what can only be described as the world’s most stressful game of “what’s in the bag?”, a St. Paul traffic stop took a sharp left turn when a 3-year-old reached into a Mickey Mouse diaper bag looking for a tissue and came out holding a loaded Taurus handgun instead.
The adventure began around 2:15 p.m. on May 11th, when officers pulled over Kenneth Ray Terry, 37, on Thomas Avenue near Galtier Street for the relatively mundane offense of not wearing a seat belt. Terry helpfully volunteered that he also didn’t have a driver’s license, which — spoiler alert — was not the most alarming revelation of the afternoon.
Terry was riding with three children, all age 3 or younger, the oldest of whom is his own kid. When officers discovered there was an outstanding warrant for Terry’s arrest related to a domestic assault allegation, things escalated quickly. Terry insisted the warrant was for someone else, which is a bold strategy that has never once worked in the history of warrants.
Meanwhile, in the back seat, a completely separate domestic drama was unfolding. One child was improperly buckled and crying. A concerned sibling, apparently auditioning for the role of World’s Most Helpful Toddler, decided to climb over and fetch a tissue from the Mickey Mouse diaper bag on the floorboard. What followed was not the sniffle-soothing moment anyone hoped for.
“The child reached into the diaper bag for a tissue, then turned toward the officer holding a Taurus handgun,” reads the criminal complaint, in what is surely a sentence nobody expected to type that day. The officer calmly asked the toddler to set the gun down on the car seat, because apparently de-escalating armed toddlers is now part of the job description.
Terry was charged May 13th in Ramsey County District Court with child endangerment by firearm access and misdemeanor possession of a pistol without a permit. He was released on his own recognizance ahead of a June 10th court appearance.
The Mickey Mouse diaper bag was unavailable for comment, but sources suggest it may be reconsidering its career choices.
*Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune, via Reddit r/offbeat*
Original story via Reddit Offbeat
