On Monday, July 15, a man was arrested after threatening a city parks employee with a knife at the intersection of Ethridge Avenue NE and Central Street NE.
According to the Olympia Police Department (OPD) police report, the employee was driving in his vehicle when he saw an unknown man in the street, swinging a knife and yelling.
The victim stated that ”the male came up to his driver side window and stated he was going to kill him … pulled the knife out and began swinging [it] around in front of the window,” after which the suspect went to the side and punched the vehicle.
The victim described the suspect as being dressed in all black and his knife as being approximately six inches long.
The suspect is known to OPD officers as the subject of several complaints of aggressive behavior towards different individuals.
Police reported that issues with him began on December 2023, when officers started receiving numerous calls about his behavior.
The suspect himself “began calling 911 reporting he was a secret agent for the government and acting erratically by walking, following neighbors, and trespassing on their property while being disorderly,” the OPD stated in the police report.
The victim followed the suspect while on the phone with 911, leading officers to a convenience store where the suspect was seen sitting at a concrete block.
Responding officers arrived on the scene and approached the suspect.
The suspect, who had an active warrant in Thurston County, resisted arrest and tried to get his hand on his knife, but authorities warned him against doing so, and eventually he laid on the ground.
During the arrest, the suspect assaulted two officers, causing minor injuries.
“As I was maneuvering [the suspect] into the patrol vehicle, Robinson became agitated and violently pushed back into my arm which was still lifting him into the seat. As a result of Robinson pushing backward, my forearm just below my elbow was pinched in the door jam,” one of the injured officers stated in the police report.
“He (the suspect) shook and slammed backwards, causing my thumb to fold in a direction it shouldn’t,” the other officer stated.
A search of the suspect's belongings revealed a knife and a Molotov cocktail.
The suspect was booked into Thurston County Jail on charges including harassment with threats to kill, third-degree assault, possession of incendiary devices, and resisting arrest.
3 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
JW
The knife-wielding man is the real victim here. We haven't given enough money to transient services and should be ashamed of ourselves.
Wednesday, July 31 Report this
HappyOlympian
right on JW, I always like to unexpectedly laugh
Thursday, August 1 Report this
FirstOtter
If you desire to give money to a knife wielding man who assaults people and threatens them with death, all you're doing is enabling him. There's nothing in the above report that says he's a 'transient'. But the cops know him well, he's a local. A Molotov cocktail is meant for arson, not self defense. Ashamed of ourselves? That's on you, then, it's the sort of bleeding heart response to criminal actions that cause this sort of stuff to begin with.
"Enough money to transient services"? Please. I'd rather the money go to upgrading schools than give it to some bum with a drug habit and a knife.
Thursday, August 1 Report this