Police: Air Gun Mistaken for Pistol Leads to Arrest in Montauk

announced on Friday that they arrested a man who had what looked like a handgun but turned out to be an air gun at on Monday morning.

Aaron A. Liniarski, 37, of Montauk was charged with second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor, after police received a call about a man with a gun inside the restaurant at 10 a.m. Justice Lisa R. Rana ordered him held at the Suffolk County jail in Riverside on $2,000 bail. 

A witness approached the first officer on scene and told him the man had been pointing a small black pistol at his trunk while he was parked sitting in his vehicle. He said the man was inside the restaurant, and described him as having long hair and wearing pajama bottoms.

Police found the man sitting at a table with a small black plastic bag next to him. He was instructed to stand up and place his hands behind his back, which he did without incident. Police found a black CO2 pistol in the plastic bag, a box of BBs and a case of CO2 cylinders.

Liniarski was detained at the . He reportedly told police that he had bought the gun for target practice and had taken it out of the bag on Main Street to look at it. He was placed under arrest and transported to headquarters in Wainscott for processing.

While he was being booked, Liniarski "continually expressed abnormality by stating he can become invincible," police said, adding he "often chuckled or laughed when asked about pointing a gun at someone."

The officer wrote in his report that he tried to explain that people often mistake a fake gun for a real one, but Liniarski reportedly laughed and said that would be funny. During interrogation, Liniarski asked police about house fires and response protocol, during which time, they said, "he began to shake and shiver as if he was getting excited."

According to the justice court, he is being represented by Legal Aid. He is due back in court on Jan. 20 at 9:30 a.m.