SAN DIEGO -- Police arrested a man who was pretending to load what looked like a shotgun in a parking lot near the Sports Arena Sunday, officials said.
Residents spotted a man walking around with a shotgun in a parking lot near 3014 Hancock St. about 10:30 a.m., San Diego police Officer Jane Jacobsen said.
Officers were called to the neighborhood, near Rosecrans at Sports Arena boulevards, and found a man wearing a black sweatshirt and army green pants, holding what looked like a real shotgun, Jacobsen said.
When police contacted the man, he dropped the gun and got down on his knees right away, she said.
After the arrest, officers determined that the shotgun was a replica. Henry Lispier, 26, was charged with violating a law against "displaying or disposing an imitation firearm in a public place,'' police said.
Lispier was booked to San Diego Central Jail on $20,000 bail. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday at 8 a.m. at the San Diego courthouse, according to jail records.
