A San Mateo couple who says they were heading to Safeway to get food for their children found themselves pulled over and held at gunpoint by San Mateo police on Friday, all because, they tell KRON 4, they honked at another driver and got into a brief verbal argument.

Passenger Jennifer Thomas, a mother of two with boyfriend David Solano, took cellphone video of the incident as 15 to 20 cops descended on their car, and made Solano get on the ground with guns pointed at him. The video shows an officer point a gun at Thomas, who was only holding up her cellphone, screaming, "He’s not resisting, he’s not resisting! It’s my phone, it’s my phone!"

“I was so scared that he was going to be shot,” Thomas tells KRON 4, adding, "It scared me obviously when I [saw the officer] pointing the gun at me, but also there were 15-20 cops behind me, that you can’t see, with guns pointed, so it was terrifying."

Solano admits to honking and exchanging words with another driver, including an expletive, but he says the conflict ended there. The other driver apparently took a photo of the couple's car and their license plate, and told police that Solano threatened him with a gun.

San Mateo Police say they performed a "high-risk stop" on the couple because of the allegation of the firearm as well as evidence that the person to whom the vehicle was registered, Mr. Solano, had "a history of contacts with this department that includes firearm allegations and other alleged criminal activity."

Solano has not commented on those details, but tells KRON 4, "I feel like I’m a prisoner in my house ... I can’t go out with my family out of fear of being shot by a cop. Not being harassed, but I feel like we could be shot by a cop."

The San Mateo Police Department has since released the following statement on the incident:

Friday afternoon June 2, at about 5:30pm, SMPD received a report of death threats and a firearm brandishing in the area of 42nd Avenue and El Camino Real. The victim described to officers that during a traffic altercation, the male suspect (self-identified in the media as David Solano) brandished a handgun and made a death threat. The victim had a photo of the vehicle and license plate. The vehicle was registered to Mr. Solano, who has a history of contacts with this department that includes firearm allegations and other alleged criminal activity.

Given this information, SMPD initiated a countywide Be-on-the-Lookout with details that the vehicle occupants could be armed. Within minutes, an SMPD officer located the exact suspect vehicle. Given the allegation of a firearm in the vehicle and death threats by the suspect, as well as historical information on the registered owner that included firearm allegations, a high risk stop was performed. During this high risk stop, the female passenger in the vehicle (self-identified in media as Jennifer Thomas) directed an object at officers which was later discovered to be a mobile phone. Officers, at that time safely detaining Solano for safety, and not knowing whether the alleged firearm was in the vehicle, pointed a firearm at Thomas until Solano was detained. As seen on video, they then retreated to an area of cover to order Thomas safely out of the vehicle. No gun was found in the vehicle, or on Solano or Thomas. Based on the lack of an actual firearm found, the vehicle occupants were released at the scene, and the case has been forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office to determine if any charges are appropriate. No-one was injured during this incident.

Once the stop was rendered safe, SMPD officers and the sergeant on scene did their best to practice procedural justice and explain the reasons for their stop. However, neither of the occupants were interested in hearing our explanation. We have additionally reached out to them again, to offer them a voice in the incident and to provide any further explanation they wish.

Update: Thomas reached out to SFist to clarify that the only record Solano has was carrying a concealed knife 17 years ago, when he was 18, and "firearm allegations" is completely false. Further, she says, "What is even more infuriating is that the 'victim' was impeding traffic. We gave a simple honk honk to make him aware traffic was moving. That honk honk alone made him take photos of our vehicle which we felt threatened by and thought was suspicious."