Detailed news story-
A ninja, a sword and a wrong idea
Police officer cuffs 15-year-old boy working for Halloween shop on 41st
NESTOR RAMOS
nramos@argusleader.com
Article Published: 10/11/05
Responding to multiple 911 calls, Sioux Falls police arrived to find a shadowy soldier of the night armed with a sheathed sword and a pair of nunchakus standing on the 41st Street curb.
But the ninja - 15-year-old Cal Geiser - was just doing his job, promoting Halloween Express, a seasonal store selling Halloween costumes.
“I was just out walking around in my ninja costume, twirling my nunchakus,” Geiser said. “After 20 minutes of that, I took out my sword and looked at it. I turned around, and there was a cop pointing his gun at me.”
After the officer cuffed him and removed his mask, Geiser said, “They were like, ‘Oops.’ " The Lincoln High School sophomore had his hair dyed for homecoming. I thought it might be something like that,” said Sioux Falls Police Lt. Tom Olson, who remembered hearing the call come over the radio Friday afternoon. lson said he couldn’t confirm that the officer had drawn his weapon, but “if there were ever truly a situation where weapons were present - be it a large sword or another firearm - obviously, the officers are going to use caution.”
“It wasn’t anything (the police) did wrong,” said Becky Christophel, who operates Halloween Express out of a storefront on 41st Street, a few blocks west of Minnesota Avenue. t’s not the first time Christophel has heard of such a promotion drawing a serious response. Christophel’s sister operates a similar store. “I think it was Cedar Rapids - somebody was out front with a cowboy costume and some big foam guns, and somebody called 911,” she said. Amy Christophel, Becky’s daughter, was working at Halloween Express when the incident occurred.
“I told him not to go out there and wave (the sword) around,” she said. “I want to know who would call in a ninja with a fake sword.” The people who called 911 probably didn’t see the Halloween store behind the ninja or didn’t quite make the connection, Olson said. “They focus on that individual, and they don’t pick up on the other existing conditions or environments,” he said. Olson said the community’s willingness to call the police when something seems out of the ordinary is important to public safety.
“We oftentimes have calls similar to that, and I attribute that to the community we live in,” he said. “I think that’s why we have such a safe community.” From now on, Halloween Express will not use ninjas on the sidewalk in their promotions, just penguins. Giant penguins. :wav:
“Everybody likes penguins, I guess,” Geiser said. Becky Christophel isn’t convinced. “Someone will probably call the zoo.”
Reach reporter Nestor Ramos at 331-2328.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051011/NEWS/510110319/1001