Brick Man Waving Knife Charged As Egg Harbor Walmart Evacuated: Police

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Brick Township man was arrested Saturday after he was waving a knife around and behaving erratically at Walmart, Egg Harbor Township police said Monday.

The 32-year-old man was taken to a hospital for evaluation after the incident, which prompted the evacuation of the Walmart, police said.

A Walmart employee saw a man with a knife in the electronics section about 2:40 p.m Saturday; he was holding it "a threatening manner," police said. Walmart's loss prevention staff confirmed he had a knife and called police.

Police officers arrived and saw the man with the knife in his right hand and "acting erratic and was ignoring their commands," police said.

At that point the store was evacuated while officers tried to negotiate with the man. After about 10 minutes, he started to walk away, and police then tackled him "due to the immediate threat to public safety," police said. The evacuation lasted about 15 minutes.

The man was handcuffed and searched, and police found a 5-inch folding knife in his right pants pocket, police said.

He was evaluated at the store by with help from the Egg Harbor Township EMS and taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City. He was facing weapons and other charges, police said.

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