RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Richmond Heights police were called to a business Saturday afternoon for a man outside with a gun and a knife.
“If you were driving down the street and you saw a male waving a knife around in the air you’d think, 'Well what the heck is going on in his mind?' There is obviously something wrong because it’s not something a normal person would do. It’s very disturbing to witness something like this,” said Lt. Denise DeBiase.
Police responded, and what happened next played out exactly like it was supposed to by both police and the man, according to police.
“You cringe to think what would happen next, but as you can see on the video — our officers moving up slowly, tactically and they were giving him verbal commands for him to comply with what they are telling him,” DeBiase said.
DeBiase explained training is critical to having situations like this one end peacefully. Last year, the state of Ohio mandated additional training for officers. Police are required to take 24 hours of additional training this year as well.
“One of the trainings last year was for mental health; that was one of the things that you could select for training. But, a lot of guys tend to move towards a mental health training because that’s who we deal with a lot. You’re dealing with a lot of mental health issues, especially after the pandemic, and you never know who you will come across,” added DeBiase.
In this situation, police said it was not a mental health issue, instead, police said the man was highly intoxicated. He is charged with disorderly conduct. Police said it’s his fifth disorderly conduct charge from different cities. Police also discovered that the gun was fake.
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