A man has been jailed after he threatened two police officers with a fake firearm he made from a brown paper bag.
CCTV footage showed Matthew Sylvester, 37, chase a police car and point a fake gun at the officers, who assumed in the dark that the weapon was real.
Police constables Dan Arthur and George Oliver responded to a report of a man who was using a trolley to try and break into a shop in Telford town centre at around 10pm on 22 February.
West Mercia Police said that the officers didn’t realise “the wannabe burglar” was preparing for police arrival, using a jumper to cover his face in a nearby trolley park where he forged an object to mimic a gun.
When he spotted the patrol car enter the car park, he immediately charged at the officers with his imitation firearm. The officers moved away from Sylvester, only to find themselves stuck behind the car park barriers. He went to the passenger side of the car, where he threatened PC Oliver and kicked the vehicle.
The officers quickly called for backup as they couldn’t see in the dark that Sylvester was not holding a gun. The 37-year-old moved to open the boot of the police car, before the two officers got out of the car and pursued him on foot, as Sylvester ran in the direction of a housing estate.
Before he could leave the car park, the two officers tackled him to the floor and removed the jumper covering his face, where Sylvester – who is known to the police – was revealed.
Police established quickly that the firearm was a brown paper bag that Sylvester had folded up to look like a handgun. The suspect, of no fixed abode, was arrested at the scene for offences including having an imitation firearm and assaulting an emergency worker.
Chief Inspector Matt Sanders said: “When officers are sent to an ongoing incident they are going into the unknown. That night, PC Arthur and PC Oliver responded to an attempted burglary, and came face-to-face with a man whose clear intention was to cause harm and distress to police.
“Sylvester’s actions were calculated, going to great lengths to ensure officers were called to the scene, including threatening members of the public and trying to break into a shop.
“He covered his face with a jumper to ensure he wasn’t recognised by officers before manipulating an object to look like a small firearm so he could threaten whoever was responding.
“The bravery and professionalism shown by both PCs that evening was nothing short of extraordinary.
“Fortunately, neither officer sustained any injuries, and Sylvester was swiftly arrested thanks to the quick thinking and actions of both officers that night, along with those who also came to their aid.“No-one should come to work and face violence, and we thank our officers that day for their bravery and dedication to keeping communities safe.”
He was later charged with a number of offences including two counts of assaulting an emergency worker, possession of an imitation firearm to cause distress, possession of class A drugs and attempted burglary.
Sylvester pleaded guilty to all charges at Shrewsbury Crown Court halfway through a week-long trial on Wednesday last week.
On Friday, he was sentenced to 16 months for imitating a firearm, and three months for assaulting two emergency workers to run consecutively.
He was also given four months for causing fear and violence and one month for possession of a class A drug (cocaine). Both are to run concurrently.
