Film 'shoot' scare: Crew's fake rifle rattles SoHo

[Drizzt]

Film 'shoot' scare: Crew's fake rifle rattles SoHo

March 12, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) _ Three filmmakers shooting a scene with a fake rifle caused a scare in a swank Manhattan neighborhood when a neighbor spotted them and called police.

Their dramatic antics brought a swarm of police to a SoHo block Tuesday afternoon, and the three were arrested on charges that included menacing.

The three "were holding the gun up like they were shooting each other. It was very realistic-looking," said neighbor Spencer Cox, 26, who watched the scene from his window. Another neighbor summoned police.

But the father of one of the filmmakers fumed about the arrests, saying authorities had overreacted.

"It was a make-believe gun!" said Louis DiLauro, who said he had rented the replica rifle himself and owns the King Street building used for the film shoot. His son, Raphael DiLauro, lives in the building.

Raphael DiLauro, 24, was arrested on charges of menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. His fellow filmmakers, both 23, were arrested on menacing charges.

Once known for the artists who turned its old industrial and commercial buildings into spacious studios, SoHo is now renowned for chic boutiques and celebrity sightings.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--filmcrewscare0312mar12,0,2416971.story

 

[kingpin008]

So wait, they were pointing the gun at each other, but were charged with menacing? Who exactly were they menacing?

And criminal posession of a weapon? How? If it's a prop gun, it's kinda hard to argue that it's a "weapon", isn't it? I mean, you could use it as a club or poke someone in the gut with it, but let's get real.

 

[serrano]

I'm guessing they tried to pull this stunt in city streets, middle of the day, with no permits...

 

[kingpin008]

Even if they did, I can't see the charges being legit.

 

[ahellers]

The three "were holding the gun up like they were shooting each other. It was very realistic-looking," said neighbor Spencer Cox, 26,

hmm... must have been good actors... yeah

t

 

[The Unknown User]

I find police officers carrying weapons to be "menacing." Maybe one of them should be charged.

"But, it's scary!"

/baaa goes the sheep

 

[Quiet]

They were "menacing" the people who witnessed the incident.

 

[mrmeval]

That is why they should have contacted the filming commission. It's their job to work with film makers and make stuff like this a non-issue.

Brandishing can cause problems anywhere because people will not know. I'd be quite embarrassed if I shot one them.

It helps to have lots of bodies who won't be on the film with T-Shirts that spell out "FILM CREW" "DON'T PANIC" and have signs and all the rigamarole that says "Filming in process or some such."

All of this is cut and dried. They'll end up in court over it and probably pay a fine.

 

[Dave P]

Yeah, but the good news is the swat team / swarm justified its existence that day. Wonder if they called out the snipers and armored personnel carriers?

 

[nightscool]

Maybe menacing is NYC's term for a breach of the peace?

 

[matt87]

I wonder if that film director would have complained against the police involvement if it hadn't been the exulted film brotherhood with the toy...

 

[CZ223]

Kingpin

Try walking into a 7-11 and pointing a "fake" gun at the cashier and see what you get charged with. You will get charged with Armed robbery despite the fact that the gun wasn't real. Now, I am not saying that this rose to that level but since the gun appeared to be real at the time that would justify the charge. Hopefully, someone with a little common sense will be involved along the way and the charges will be dropped.

 

[resonance]

As a filmmaker who has successfully used prop guns on two projects, let me say that it's these guys who give the rest of us a bad name. Not too sure about NY law, but here in WA if you shoot (film, hehe) in a public place and the scene uses any kind of firearm as a prop, you need to have a police officer present, along with obtaining permits and insurance. These guys probably just decided to "run and gun".

I'm a noob here, but if you guys would like to see the aforementioned projects, give me a sec to update my profile.

 

[cpttango30]

and criminal possession of a weapon. There is no way you can charge some one with this if there was no weapon of any kind involved. That would be like charging an 8 yo with attempted murder for playing paintball or air-soft.

 

[Kharn]

Film students cause all sorts of hysterics when they film on the street without notifying the people in the area. IIRC, a swat team was called out when some film students did a fake abduction armed with airsoft weapons on a college campus.

Kharn

 

[Hardware]

Is it too late to give NYC back to the Brits?

 

[rhubarb]

Presumably if they were "filmmakers," there would have been a camera and production people around.

Yet a concerned witness that knows that all guns are bad saved the day in Bloombergville.

 

[serrano]

Presumably if they were "filmmakers," there would have been a camera and production people around.

Yet a concerned witness that knows that all guns are bad saved the day in Bloombergville.

It just sounds like daddy's boy and a couple of his buddies with a handycam - not a real production.

 

[shc1]

Does this mean we have to go somewhere else for celebrity sightings?

 

[skinewmexico]

Hey.........any publicity is good publicity, or so they say.

 

[kingpin008]

Try walking into a 7-11 and pointing a "fake" gun at the cashier and see what you get charged with. You will get charged with Armed robbery despite the fact that the gun wasn't real. Now, I am not saying that this rose to that level but since the gun appeared to be real at the time that would justify the charge. Hopefully, someone with a little common sense will be involved along the way and the charges will be dropped.

That's not the same thing at all. In the situation you described, the individual with the gun willingly and knowingly represented it as a deadly weapon to another, unknowing individual and used it to demand money. In the situation described in the article, a bunch of kids were using a prop in such a way that involved it being pointed at each other, all knowing that it was a prop and therefore not intended to be used as a weapon. It was an observer who noticed this, and called the cops. Never once does it say that the observer was ever in danger, or had the prop pointed at or near them.

I'm still not sure I see the correlation to your argument.

 

[sacp81170a]

So wait, they were pointing the gun at each other, but were charged with menacing? Who exactly were they menacing?

It's like that Star Wars thing, you know, "The Phantom Menace". Maybe they were using the Dark Side too much and the waves of "menace" just had too strong an effect on those with weak minds...

 

[Hardtarget]

Well, get ready. Our "gun action' movies are going to start looking ...odd. Its going to be hard to be very realistic with those orange muzzles.

May as well use squirt guns.

Mark.

 

[Brenainn]

This reminds me of something I saw back a few weeks ago. I'm driving down in downtown Asheville looking for a parking space and found one in front of the library. I was going to the gun show and got there a few minutes after the doors opened. Anyway, after I parallel parked, I sat in the car for a few minutes just getting ready to get out. I look over and this rough looking guy is walking down the street with a rifle on his arm on a sling. The thing is, the guy walks straight into the library! I was sort of shocked, but since I knew the gun show was here, I knew where he PROBABLY got the gun, I just couldn't believe he went into the Library with it. I didn't think you could do that. So after seeing this, I sat there for a few more minutes to see what was going on. A security guard showed up from I don't know where and went into the building. About 20 min later he came back out, but the rifle guy never did. I don't know what became of this, but it was a first for me.

Not exactly the same thing as what the original poster posted, but it reminded me of it.

Anyway, carry on...

 

[Robert Hairless]

It just sounds like daddy's boy and a couple of his buddies with a handycam - not a real production.

I don't think anyone should be allowed to have a camera who hasn't had thorough training with it from a certified instructor. There are just too many cameras in the hands of unqualified people for my comfort level. I don't see why anyone but the police or professionals need a camera, and no one needs a handycam or other sophisticated device to take pictures of his child's first steps. These are not the kinds of devices that ordinary citizens should have.

It's not clear to me that the First Amendment guarantees the right to own or use cameras but even if it does there should be reasonable regulation of them.