Man With Sledgehammer Asks Deputies To Kill Him: Police

OAKLAND COUNTY, MI — A 29-year-old Commerce Township man has found himself in the slammer after holding a sledgehammer and demanding Oakland County Sheriff's Deputies kill him, kicking and spitting at Deputies, damaging a patrol car, and leading Deputies on a foot chase, according to a news release.

At 12:03 a.m. on Dec. 6, Deputies responded to the 1900 block of Meadow Ridge Dr. on the report of an unknown disturbance. Dispatchers forewarned Deputies that they had an open 9-1-1 line with a male and female yelling at one another and the male could be heard saying that he wasn’t going to jail.

When Deputies arrived on the scene, they observed a man standing in front of a garage, who promptly hid by the fence. Deputies gave verbal commands to the suspect and he stood up with a sledgehammer in his hands and demanded that Deputies kill him.

Deputies talked the suspect into dropping the sledgehammer but the suspect then ran away. Deputies say they deployed a Taser with negative results and a short foot chase broke out. The man was apprehended in the neighbor’s yard and he reportedly kicked two Deputies and attempted to spit on them while being handcuffed, according to police. The suspect was placed in the rear of a patrol vehicle and kicked the driver’s side rear door causing the door frame to bend outward, police report.

While the suspect was en route to the Oakland County Jail, he stated that he wanted to die and that he was trying to get Deputies to shoot him, according to the news release. Deputies also learned during the investigation that the suspect had threatened his 42-year-old girlfriend and 75-year-old mother with a knife prior to Deputies arriving.

The suspect was placed on a behavioral watch at The Oakland County Jail. Estimates for the damaged patrol car are unknown at this time and charges against the suspect are pending.

Photo by Dustin Gaffke via Flickr