Man wearing loaded gun and tactical vest for Halloween arrested at DeLand bar
A DeLand man who wore a loaded firearm, bullet proof vest, handcuffs, baton and mask as a Halloween costume, was hauled off to jail after he showed up at a downtown DeLand restaurant in violation of open carry gun laws, police said.
Michael Ribar, 22, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of open carrying of weapons and was released from the Volusia County Branch Jail Wednesday afternoon after posting $1,000 bail.
Round chambered
DeLand police said they went to the dining area of Cafe Da Vinci at 112 W. Georgia Ave. at 8:50 p.m. Tuesday after an anonymous caller reported that a man in a long-sleeve motorcycle shirt was in the dining area carrying a gun in public view and wearing a ballistic vest.
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Officers searched the area and found Ribar carrying a firearm on his right hip. When officers removed the gun for safety they found that the firearm had a round chambered, the arrest report states.
Ribar initially told police that he was at an undisclosed shooting range before coming to Cafe Da Vinci. He said he forgot his concealed carry holster and "just threw this on" referring to the regular gun holster he was wearing, the report said.
He did not answer police when he was asked why he did not store the firearm in his vehicle, the report states.
Ribar then told police he thought that Cafe Da Vinci was like Gators Dockside, a restaurant on the south end of DeLand, where he dined while openly carrying his firearm. Police informed Ribar that Cafe Da Vinci was licensed as a bar and that he could not publicly carry his firearm there, the report said.
'I figured because it was Halloween'
Ribar also told police that he was in the process of applying for a security guard's license although he was not employed as one, his arrest report said.
Ribar then said he wore the gun and the tactical attire as a Halloween costume, police wrote in the report.
“I figured because it was Halloween I could try,” police said Ribar told them.
When police spoke with Ribar's girlfriend, she said Ribar had not been at a gun range or fishing. Florida Statute 790.25(3) authorizes the open carry of firearms while fishing, hunting, or camping, or while going to or returning from fishing, hunting, or camping.
Ribar's girlfriend told police that she and Ribar met at 3 p.m. Tuesday to decide what they would wear for Halloween, the report said.
Ribar decided to wear his vest and firearm and they went directly to Cafe Da Vinci in his attire, the girlfriend told police, the report details.
After Ribar was arrested, DeLand police seized a black bulletproof vest, a black 9mm handgun, three loaded magazines, and the tactical belt with handcuffs, baton and a medical kit as evidence.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Gun and tactical vest for Halloween attire ends in arrest
