Baltimore County Police Sgt. Eric Janik, 36, was charged with assault after he pulled a handgun on a chainsaw wielding haunted house character.
Janik, pulled his gun on a haunted house employee dressed up as the killer from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” at the House of Screams show in Essex on Sunday.
According to reports, the haunted house employee approached Janik after the haunted house tour was over in a effort to get “one last scream.” Instead, it was the employee that got a scare when Janik pulled his gun and pointed it at the chest of Michael Morrison, the man in the costume.
“I was doing my normal scene at the haunted house, and as I was going out the back door with the chainsaw, the officer pulled his gun on me. Basically, he put his gun to my chest and as I was going back in, he said he was a cop,” Morrison said.
He said he dropped the chain saw, which had no chain and was not dangerous. Janik was with four other people, including his 9-year-old daughter and a female officer.
Charging documents show he denied pointing his loaded service weapon at Morrison. He said he pointed it at the ground. Police said he also appeared to be drinking.
“Callers said he seemed to be very intoxicated. In fact, the people inside the House of Screams noted that. When he was being processed, two of the officers noticed his speech was slurred and there was a moderate odour of alcohol coming from his breath. He didn’t seem to be taking this quite as seriously as he should have been,” said Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey.
Janik, a 14-year veteran, has been suspended without pay pending a formal suspension hearing.