Hercules Boys Cited For Carrying Replica Pistol

Four boys were cited in Hercules earlier this week after they were  spotted with what turned out to be a replica pistol, police said.

Around 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, a citizen called police to report that  four boys on Willow Avenue near The Grove Christian Church were passing  around what appeared to be a pistol and pointing it at nearby cars, according  to police.

Police said officers quickly found the boys on Willow Avenue and  attempted to speak with them, prompting three of the boys to run away  into the nearby Foxboro Downs neighborhood.

While an officer detained the boy who didn't flee, another officer  located two of the other boys nearby. The fourth boy was later located at his  home in Rodeo.

One of the boys led the officers to where the firearm was thrown.

Officers discovered that the weapon was a Crosman Airsoft pistol,  a replica of a Beretta with its orange tip removed, police said.

The brown gun is a similar model to what was used during Operation  Desert Storm, according to Hercules police Sgt. Ruben Rodriguez.

"It looked very real," Rodriguez said.

The four boys, 12- and 13-year-old Hercules and Rodeo residents, were cited and released to their parents.

The case is being forwarded to the Contra Costa County Probation  Department, Rodriguez said.

The boys' arrests come less than two months after 13-year-old Andy  Lopez was shot and killed by Sonoma County sheriff's Deputy Erick Gelhaus in  Santa Rosa while carrying a replica firearm.

The case has drawn national attention as well as numerous protests  and rallies calling for murder charges against Gelhaus and restrictions on  toy guns.
   

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