Bloody Man With Hatchet In Milford: Here's What Happened

MILFORD, MA — A strange and scary scene unfolded Saturday night when a 48-year-old man burst into the backyard of a downtown home and threatened to kill several people with a hatchet, police said. The man was arrested and taken to Milford Hospital before he could harm anyone. He faces several charges.

Police said the man, covered in blood from a cut, climbed a flagpole outside Milford police headquarters and then ran along Franklin Street to a home where a large crowd was watching a volleyball game. He broke through a wooden fence with a hatchet and threatened to kill people before running away, police said.

Milford police, Hopedale police and a state police K-9 unit eventually tracked the man to a spot near Congress and Walnut streets and arrested him. Police said he had spray-painted a Nazi SS logo on his chest and was bleeding from a cut on the wrist. He also made derogatory comments about black people after being taken into custody, police said.

The man's mother later told police that her son had been drinking since the night before and flew into a rage Saturday when he couldn't find money to buy alcohol.

Police said the man stole his mother's debit card and forced her to drive him to the store, where he yelled at customers before demanding to be taken to the police station so he could "kill cops and die." When they arrived at the station, the mother ran inside for help while her son climbed the flagpole outside.

The man will be issued a summons for charges of disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, assault with a dangerous weapon and malicious destruction of property, police said.