Sleepy, shotgun-wielding teen threatens landscaping crew

Richard Finnell Photo: AustinMugs.comRichard Finnell
Photo: AustinMugs.com

It is a common complaint in neighborhoods across the country: Residents say landscapers’ equipment is too loud or that they’re operating too early. Less common, fortunately, is the reaction of a Texas teenager who was particularly displeased when a landscaping crew woke him.

The 17-year-old, Richard Finnell of Austin, threatened landscapers with a shotgun earlier this week, according to police. A landscaper was loading his trailer with tree branches when he looked up and saw Finnell pointing the gun at him, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

The landscaper ran to get his boss from a nearby house, and when the boss came out, Finnell yelled at him to shut up.

One of the victims reported to KEYE TV that Finnell told them to “shut up or you are not going to like what happens” and loaded a round into the shotgun.

Police were called at 11 a.m., arresting the teen and seizing his black Mossberg 500-12GA shotgun from his house.

One of the landscapers told police Finnell was screaming and cursing at him, leading the worker to think he was about to die.

According to the police report, Finnell told investigators the landscapers had awakened him three times that morning and he had asked them to be quiet. He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Finnell was placed in the Travis County Jail, with bail set at $60,000. This isn’t the teenager’s first time at the jail; he was booked in October 2015 for possession of marijuana.

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