Police: Wash. man pointed gun at pregnant smoker

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — A Washington state man has been arrested on allegations that he pointed a handgun at a pregnant woman because she was smoking a cigarette.

Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young says 24-year-old Justin Dain Palmer reportedly stopped his pickup truck Wednesday to shout at a smoker on a sidewalk, "Who the heck smokes when they're pregnant?" The woman replied, "I do."

Young says after more words were exchanged, the man pointed a handgun at the woman. The Bellingham Herald reports the man then drove off, and the woman called 911.

Police stopped Palmer a short time later. Young says Palmer acknowledged confronting the woman but denied pulling a gun. Police say they found two semiautomatic .45-caliber handguns in his pickup's center console.

Young says Palmer was arrested for investigation of pointing a gun.