Police in Trenton, New Jersey, charge a man threatened officers with a snake.
According to authorities, James Pearson was suspected of violating a restraining order.
Police say Pearson was holding the snake when officers tried to arrest him.
Pearson said the snake was poisonous.
But a detective who knows snakes knew better.
The creature was a python, which is not venomous.
Pearson now faces a number of criminal counts, including weapons charges for the snake.
