The department reiterated the dangers associated with altering the appearance of retail toy guns to look like authentic firearms.
"BB guns, toy guns are getting painted over to look black, so to an untrained eye, you don't know if it's a real gun or not," Luna said.
Officer Luna further warned about the physical risks of firing these specific types of projectiles from a moving car.
"We've seen lots of youngsters using BB guns, water guns, toy guns, and painting them black so they look like real firearms and that causes real danger to untrained eyes," Luna said.
Despite the operational disruption, police officials noted the company acted appropriately by involving local law enforcement to evaluate the threat.
"They were right in calling us and letting us know," Luna said.
The police department corporate collaboration allowed officers to synchronize their arrival with the vehicle's automated stop.
"I'm not sure what led to them learning about what was going on in their vehicle, but once they had the information, they did contact us immediately, told us what they saw, told us where they were and actually disable the vehicle for us," Luna said.
The company utilized internal communication channels to ensure the occupants remained stationary during the police deployment.
"They did say they were able to disable the vehicle and used a ruse to tell the passengers, 'Oh the car is having trouble.'
So, we could set up and get into position," Luna said.
The police department later sustained its endorsement of the monitoring process through its community relations channels.
