Police Shoot Bean-Bag Rounds at Machete-Carrying Man in Thurston County Park 

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A 48-year-old Olympia man is being held in Thurston County jail in lieu of $10,000 bail after allegedly robbing a Safeway while carrying a machete last Sunday.

The man appeared in Thurston County Superior Court for his conditions of release hearing on Thursday. Olympia police arrested him on Sunday, but he refused to appear in court on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Prosecutors charged him with first-degree robbery, two counts of harassment and third-degree theft on Thursday, according to court documents.

Superior Court Commissioner Nathan Kortokrax said he chose to impose bail because he believes the man may commit a violent crime or fail to appear in court when required.

The man allegedly walked out of the Safeway on Harrison Avenue about 12:45 p.m. Sunday without paying for some energy drinks, Lt. Paul Lower told The Olympian. Police allege he brandished a machete, prompting responding officers to shoot him with a bean bag shotgun near the crowded Yauger Skate Park adjacent to the supermarket.

Lower said police responded to the scene soon after the robbery and attempted to contact the man. He claims the responding officers used de-escalation techniques before resorting to using the bean bag shotgun.

Police had contacted the man about noon the same day after employees at a nearby Goodwill requested he be removed from the front entrance area, Lower said. At the time, the man held the machete, but the responding officers found no cause to arrest him, he said.

Lower said the officers responded to multiple calls involving this man in the days prior to the alleged robbery but found he had committed no crime. A pretrial report described the man as transient.

A probable cause statement submitted by the prosecution includes a police officer's report on the alleged robbery.

The report says the officer responded to the Safeway on Harrison Avenue Northwest at about 1 p.m. and contacted the store manager while en route.

The manager told the officer that a person wearing a black jacket, khaki pants and a blue baseball hat had stolen energy drinks from the store. From there, the man reportedly made his way toward Yauger Park on Cooper Point Road, per the report.



Responding officers found the man holding a machete in the air near the skate park, according to the report. One officer parked his patrol vehicle 15 feet behind the man, drew his taser and ordered the man to get on the ground, the report says.

The man reportedly held the machete in one hand and ice cream in the other as he turned to face the officer with the taser, per the report. The machete had a long silver blade and wood handle, according to the report.

At that point, the report says, another officer shot the man with a bean bag shotgun. The man fell to the ground but did not let go of the machete, per the report, so the officer with the bean bag shotgun shot him again.

When he dropped the machete, the officers handcuffed him, according to the report. Lower told The Olympian this occurred about 15 feet from the open gate to the skate park.

The manager who reported the initial theft identified the man at the scene as the person who stole the energy drinks, the report says. From there, officers transported the man to Capital Medical Center to be evaluated, per the report.

Police allege the man stole items worth $12.31, according to the report. The manager told police that they and another supervisor followed the man out of the store but backed off when they noticed he carried a machete in his cart, the report says.

The manager told police the man took the machete out of its sheath and pointed it at them when he was about 100 feet away, per the report.

Police claim the supervisor corroborated the manager's story with tears in their eyes, according to the report. They both told police they feared the man would hurt them, the report says.

After being cleared at Capital Medical Center, police booked the man into Thurston County jail, per the report.

Kortokrax set the man's arraignment for June 15.