March 31, 2009
Police in a Chinese city sent out six patrol cars after reports of a man with a hunting rifle - but it turned out to be a giant cigarette lighter.
The main police station in Nanjing received emergency calls saying a man wearing a hunting rifle on his back was stalking the streets.
"We sent out six patrol cars immediately, trying to stop the man before anything bad happened," said a police spokesman.
"On spotting the man, officers forced him to stop. The man was obviously very scared and said the gun was only a toy lighter, which he just won as an award in a restaurant."
Police tested the gun, but found that pulling the trigger resulted only in a small blue flame coming out from the end of the barrel.
Police gave the man a warning for alarming members of the public and confiscated his life-sized rifle lighter, reports the Yangtse Evening Post.
