An Arizona man suspected of entering a home uninvited and threatening to kill residents had an unwitting and unwilling accomplice: A rattlesnake he picked up somewhere in the wild.
Nathaniel Buck Harrison, 38, of Oracle, was collared on July 23 after police said he entered a home and accused a man of "being a rat" who sent his friend to prison, according to ABC15.com.
At some point during the altercation, Harrison broke a board over the 53-year-old victim's head, and tried to get his rattlesnake to bite the victim, police said.
Despite repeated efforts to get the snake to attack, nothing worked, according to NBC12.com.
Police said Harrison made the victim kneel on the floor. Then he fired a handgun into a speaker on the floor near the victim's foot.
Deputies arrived after getting a 911 call about the shooting and set up a perimeter around the home, according to AZFamily.com.
The suspect eventually came out of the house and was taken into custody, but not before attempting to hide the pistol under a couch. Deputies found the snake and released it back into the wild without questioning.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu told media he believed Harrison's case is the first where a victim attempted to use a venomous snake to kill or injure his victim.
However, Harrison is no stranger attacking people with help of the animal kingdom, according to Suzi Riddell, the manager of the Justice Mobile Home Park, where the assault took place.
"He has gone to other people that live in here with big hornet’s nests and tried to throw them in their door," Riddell told KVOA TV. "He gets a crazy idea, and wants to go with it."
Harrison was arrested and charged with endangerment, aggravated assault, criminal trespassing, disorderly conduct with a weapon, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony offense, unlawful discharge of a firearm and threatening and intimidating.
He remains in custody on a $50,000 bond.
