It's late at night. You're a British cop (and unarmed is generally how you roll) responding to a house where the homeowner has been receiving prank phone calls (the Brits actually dispatch cops for crank calls?). When you approach the house to knock on the door, you peek inside the darkened front room and see an armed gunman standing in a threatening pose. So of course, instead of ringing the doorbell, you call for armed backup.

You and your posse cordon off the street, take a few deep breaths, and bust in the back door. Your tactical incursion takes the homeowner by surprise, as you and your team yell "Down on the floor! Where's the weapon?"

As it turns out, the weapon lies firmly in the grasp of a life-size Lara Croft doll, belonging to computer shop owner David Williams. He claims he has brought the doll home to sell on eBay. So you and your team laugh it off and take Mr. Williams down to the local pub to apologize. Right?

WRONG!

You arrest him and toss him in jail for more than 13 hours, and impound the doll as "evidence."

Seriously, people. I wish I was making this stuff up.

A spokeswoman for the Greater Manchester Police said that when Wiliams failed to answer his front door, officers officers peeked inside his house.

"They believed they saw a silhouette of a person pointing what appeared to be a firearm inside the house," she said.

She also said that they used "correct procedure" by callingn for armed backup.

"Officers then went into the house and found a mannequin holding a toy weapon."

Mr. Williams is now speaking to lawyers about a possible claim for wrongful arrest, and will learn whether or not he faces any further action when he is arraigned next month.

(via Daily Mail)