Man With Machete Arrested After Standoff in Utica, New York
A man allegedly walking around Utica, New York with a machete was arrested after an hours long standoff with Police on Tuesday afternoon.
According to a report by WKTV, a distraught man walking around Utica with a machete spurred a confrontation with law enforcement that lasted for hours. At around 11:30 am, Utica Police received a call about a man walking around State Street in Utica with a machete. Attempts by law enforcement to speak with the man at that time were unsuccessful and eventually triggered a standoff.
Police were eventually able to take the man into custody at around 5:00 pm after spending five hours outside his home trying to diffuse the situation and deploying gas into the house multiple times.
Following the standoff, the unnamed man was taken to St. Elizabeth Medical Center for a mental health evaluation. He now faces felony criminal mischief charges as a result of the incident in addition to the five outstanding warrants for him from the Utica Police Department.
And so a scary situation came to a close. I can't imagine people working in Utica were too happy about walking out of their office on their lunch break and seeing a guy waving a machete around and refusing to speak with law enforcement officers. But Police managed to keep people away from the man and after a few hours, take him into custody without any further incident and get him to the hospital to seek any help he may need.