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Police Arrest Man With Sword After Attempted Assault, Burglary Sunday Night

Police arrested a man apparently in crisis after he used a sword to attack an officer in a patrol vehicle, broke the windshield of a parked car, and attempted to break in to a residence near the Washington Park Arboretum Sunday night.

At 10:23 p.m., officers responded to 24th Avenue East and East Galer Street for reports of a man walking in the street with a sword. When police arrived in the area, the man suddenly approached an officer in a police car and struck the driver’s door with his sword — damaging the vehicle but thankfully leaving the officer unharmed.

The man was in a state of crisis and refused to comply with officers’ demands to drop the sword. Instead, he walked away from police and broke the windshield of a car parked on the block. Officers followed the man and continued to instruct him to drop the sword. But the man continued to ignore commands, and damaged the door of a house with the weapon. When the suspect then tried to open the door of the occupied house, officers deployed a 40 mm launcher. The man dropped the sword, and officers moved in to arrest him.

The 43-year-old man was transported to Harborview Medical Center for evaluation before being booked into the King County Jail for property damage, attempted burglary and assault. Officers also requested charges for the misdemeanor offenses of obstruction and unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon.