Colorado man arrested after aiming banana at deputies

MESA COUNTY, CO -- A man who says he was just trying to "lighten the holiday spirit" is now facing serious charges. His crime: Pointing a banana at police.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports Nathen Rolf Channing, 27, was arrested after he pointed a banana at police officers. Police initially thought the banana was a gun.

According to part of an arrest affidavit released to KDVR-TV, Mesa County deputies Joshua Bunch and Donald Love said they feared for their lives after they "observed what appeared to be a yellow tube with a black center."

"Nathen drew the object in the same manner someone would draw a standard handgun from a concealed holster," Bunch stated in the affidavit, saying both he Love thought the banana was a gun.

Deputy Love then began to draw his service weapon when Channing yelled, "It's a banana!"

Bunch wrote in the affidavit that he has seen handguns in many shapes and colors and was following his training.

The deputies say Channing told them he was doing a trial run for a planned YouTube video and he thought it would be a "funny joke." It may be a joke that went too far. Channing now faces two counts of felony menacing. A conviction could get him three years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.