A 73-year-old Florida man was arrested this week after he allegedly screamed at a 5th grader riding his bike on the sidewalk and pointed a hunting knife at the boy’s chest.
Richard Schafer was also legally carrying a gun but did not use it to threaten the child.
The boy threw his hands up and apologized before riding quickly home.
“He told me when he got home that he thought he was going to die,” his mother, Tina Commesso, told WESH.
Winter Springs Police Lt. Shaun Philbrook told WESH Schafer was angry because the child was not in the bike lane in the street and felt the boy was going to hit him “even though there was no indication the bike made any overt movements or drove directly at him.”
“And he said a gentleman was yelling at him and he stopped scared, and the gentleman pulled out a large hunting knife, pointed toward my son’s chest and yelled at him to get off the sidewalk,” Commesso said. “And he just put his hands up and said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ Put his hands up, ‘I’m so sorry.’ He was obviously terrified.”
Commesso said she found it “concerning” when she learned that Schafer was not only carrying a large knife but a gun as well.
“I don’t know someone would be walking through Tuskawilla with a gun and a hunting knife in the middle of the day,” she said.
Winter Springs police said bike riding on the sidewalk is perfectly legal in the city. Shafer was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
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[Featured image: Richard Shafer/police handout]
