Crime & Courts

Juneau police: Suspect threw machete at officers during pursuit

A 23-year-old man wielding a machete was shocked with a Taser and arrested after allegedly throwing the blade at pursuing Juneau police officers.

The Juneau Police Department did not include the man's name in a Friday release. Police said charges of criminal mischief and assault will be forwarded to the city prosecutor's office for consideration.

Following his arrest, the suspect was taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital and evaluated for minor injuries. He was "later taken into protective custody for treatment of a mental health emergency," the release says.

It all started when Juneau police got a call from the man's stepfather, who reported his stepson got in a fight with his wife in the Radcliffe Road and Berners Avenue area. He told police he locked him out of the home, but the stepson was carrying a machete.

Neighbors and others soon called in reports of a man wielding the broad heavy weapon. Initially, the man threatened to damage property, and then he struck two vehicles in the parking lot of a local business, police said.

Several people confronted the man, who apparently dropped the machete.

"As officers arrived, the subject picked up a machete from the ground and began to run from the area," the release says. "Officers followed him, and at one point he turned and tossed the machete in the direction of the police officers."

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That's when an officer deployed a Taser, subdued and arrested the suspect, police said.

[Read more: Review finds Anchorage officers legally justified in use of deadly force against robbery suspect]

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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