Colo. man accused of pointing loaded gun at kids who threw snowballs
BOULDER, Colo. – Police in Boulder have arrested a man on suspicions that he pointed a loaded gun at children after a snowball they threw struck his minivan, CBS Denver reported.
Police took Richard Nam, 55, of Aurora, into custody after they found a loaded revolver in his vehicle, according to a police report and court documents.
A group of boys told officers they were having a contest to see who could throw a snowball the farthest when one of them hit Nam’s minivan.
Nam told police he had gone to the church with his wife to deliver flowers for a wedding. During the ceremony, he was napping inside the vehicle when the snowball strike startled him awake. The children said they were not aware Nam was sleeping inside and did not intentionally strike the vehicle.
Nam told officers he waved the gun in the air to “scare” the children, according to the documents.
The children told officers a different story.
Mike Morquecho, who said his son was among the children targeted, said Nam not only waved the gun, but that he pointed it directly at three children. One boy told police he heard Nam pull the trigger, but the gun did not go off. Two other witnesses backed up the kids’ version of events.
In their report, police state they found bullets loaded in four out of five of the revolver’s chambers. Nam reportedly told officers he keeps the first chamber empty “for additional safety.”
Morquecho told CBS Denver that he and the children are still terrified by what happened. When the children told him about the incident, Morquecho said Nam took off in his minivan. He was apprehended by police soon after.
“He should have not done that because they were kids,” he said. “Thank God nothing happened, they were just kids being kids playing around with snowballs, their intentions weren’t to disturb the man.”
Nam was taken to the Boulder County Jail. He faces possible charges of felony menacing, reckless endangerment, and child abuse.
Nam is due back in court later this week.
