Police charge man waving machete, yelling at Toms River drivers

Police in Toms River were able to deescalate a tense situation where a man was holding a machete and yelling at drivers between Brookside Drive and Route 37 in the township.

Sergeant Chris McDowell was first on the scene as he pulled over while on patrol when he saw “an agitated man with what appeared to be a large knife yelling at passing motorists”, police said around 7:35 pm on Monday night. near the intersection of Brookside Drive and Route 37.

Seaside Heights Police Officer, Robert Wasilick, who was off-duty at the time and happened to come across the situation, pulled over to assist and saw the man with the knife.

There were also additional Toms River Police Officers who responded to the intersection to create a perimeter around the nearby wooded area the man ran into but was within sight.

He refused several commands to drop the large machete and police said he became increasingly agitated and combative, even swinging the large weapon at police officers on the scene.

It was about twenty minutes of police trying to talk the man into dropping the weapon before Officer Brian Appleby tackled the suspect and secured the weapon.

Police said they then subdued the man, brought him to Community Medical Center in Toms River for an evaluation, and then charged him with unlawful possession of a weapon and disorderly conduct.

“I would like to commend all of the officers for an incredible amount of restraint which could have certainly become a deadly force situation,” Toms River Police Chief Mitch Little said in a written statement.

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