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Man Points Banana At Deputies, Arrested For Menacing

MESA COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Nathan Channing said it was just monkey business. But Mesa County Sheriff's deputies said the incident was ripe with danger.

Channing, 27, was arrested Sunday for allegedly pointing a banana at sheriff's deputies. He was booked on two counts of felony menacing charges.

Banana Nathan Channing
Channing's also wearing a yellow shirt in his booking photo. It's unclear if that intentional. (credit: Mesa County Sheriff's Department)

According to KREX, a deputy drove past Channing, who was walking down the road, when Channing drew the banana like a handgun and pointed it at the deputy. The deputy ducked in his car and called for backup. When the second deputy arrived, Channing pointed it again, the sheriff's office said.

Channing told deputies he was doing a trial run for a YouTube video.

"It's a banana!" Channing shouted as deputies drew their guns.

Still, deputies approached the fruit with caution. There were no cameras in the vicinity to suggest a YouTube video, they said.

"A lot of time it's how someone behaves and treats an object, depends on whether or not that object is actually dangerous or is a weapon," a sheriff's office spokesman said.

He said the banana could have been a firearm in disguise.

"It this case, it turned out to just be a banana," he noted.

There's no word on how Channing will a-peel.

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