Plea Deal Discussed in Officer Assault at Jo-Ann Fabrics

A man charged with assaulting Bloomfield Township police officers during a scuffle at the Jo-Ann Fabrics store in May will return to court this week for a possible plea agreement.

Marleaux Milton Webb, 24, faces multiple counts of assaulting and obstructing a police officer and assault with a dangerous weapon at a pre-trial hearing before Oakland County Circuit Judge Wendy Potts on Wednesday. He is also charged with single counts of assaulting an officer resulting in injury, and disarming an officer.

Court records indicate prosecutors and Webb’s attorney, Markeisha Di'Ann Washington, met with Potts in court last week and worked on a plea deal, but further details were not disclosed. Washington declined comment Friday.

Officers responded to the store about 6 p.m. after receiving calls from employees about a man who was wandering and acting strangely in the store for roughly two to three hours, reports said. Two officers found the man, later identified as Webb, sitting in the sewing area on the store's second floor. He initially told officers he was involved in a "crash down the road" and became very agitated when officers said they were not aware of any crash and told him to leave the store.

Police said Webb made multiple attempts for an officer's weapon before he broke free and jumped from the second floor and fled. He was arrested about a quarter-mile away.

Doctors declared Webb competent to stand trial earlier this month following an evaluation at the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in York Township near Ypsilanti. He waived his preliminary hearing in 48^th District Court and remains in the Oakland County Jail without bond.