Two 13-year-old boys were mistaken for robbers and arrested while they were playing with a toy gun in front of a convenience store, police said Friday.
Despite earlier media reports that a man was held at gunpoint by the pair in an attempt to rob him at a convenience store in in Sai Mai district, Lt. Col. Thanu Sukserm, deputy chief of Sai Mai police, said Friday the incident was entirely a misunderstanding and the boys were eventually released without charges.
“They were playing with a toy gun in front of the store when the man approached them,” Thanu said. “The boys then begged the man for money, but the man saw one of the boys was holding a gun, so he panicked and mistook it as a robbery.”
Police said the teens usually hang out around the area and solicit money from passersby.
The man, who did not want to be identified by name, told reporters yesterday after filing complaints at the police station that he saw one of the teens aim a gun at him and pull the trigger. He saw it was fake, but still ran away.
The boys’ parents later came to the police station and apologized to the victim, Lt. Col. Thanu said.
