A Cedartown teenager was physically restrained by police after he pointed what the officer believed to have been a weapon at a policeman on Wednesday, August 28.

According to reports:

As he was on patrol, Officer Brandy Brady was flagged down by a juvenile female. She told Brady that while she was playing, a white male wearing dark sunglasses and dressed in a blue shirt and jeans pointed a gun at her and yelled, “Freeze!”

While he speaking with the girl, Brady noticed a man matching the description.

The officer located the subject on Thompson St. and asked if he had any weapons in his possession. The suspect, 17-year-old Johnny Claude Mitchell of Mississippi Dr., answered, “This,” revealing a black handgun. As he exposed the suspected gun, Mitchell pointed it in Brady’s direction.

Fearing great bodily harm or possibly death, Brady acted on his instincts. He quickly decided that the response time to draw his service weapon would take too long, so Brady grabbed Mitchell by the arm. The suspect was thrown onto the hood of the patrol car and dropped the gun.

Mitchell was placed under arrest and taken to the Cedartown Police Department for booking procedures.

The weapon was later identified as a black plastic toy made to look like a handgun. Mitchell was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, possessing a concealed weapon, pointing a gun at another person, two counts of aggravated battery, criminal trespass, and possession of a pistol by a person under 18 years old.