Mears man armed with butcher knife, axe handle asks police to shoot him.

By Allison Scarbrough. OCP Editor.

GOLDEN TOWNSHIP — A 31-year-old Mears man armed with a fiberglass axe handle and a 12-inch butcher knife Sunday afternoon, April 10, was tased by police after asking officers to shoot him, according to Lt. Craig Mast of the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s deputies were called at 4:26 p.m. to a residence in the 3500 block of Ridge Road, where they responded to a family disturbance. “There were several household items strewn about the yard, and there appeared to be a disturbance in progress,” Mast said.

The suspect, armed with a fiberglass axe handle, approached the deputies after exiting the house. He displayed the axe handle in an “aggressive manner,” the lieutenant said. “They told him to drop the weapon and come forward and talk to them,” Mast said. The man then retreated inside the house for a short period of time and came back outside with a butcher knife and the axe handle, continuing to act aggressively and threatening the officers. The man asked officers to shoot him, Mast said.

Deputies then deployed a taser, and the suspect began to retreat, Mast said. A Michigan State Police trooper then arrived on scene and deployed his taser on the suspect.

The suspect was then taken to the ground and placed in custody. He is lodged in the Oceana County Jail with charges pending.