A city man hid in a bathroom at a convenience store then brandished a machete at officers before he was arrested, police said.
William Jason Mays, 35, of Anderson Street, has been charged with aggravated assault, said Bristol, Tenn., Police Capt. Charlie Thomas.
Sgt. Chet Emery, one of the officers who responded to the store where Mays was arrested, said a woman called police around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday to report that a man might try to rob the Cedar Creek Handy Market on Weaver Pike.
“When we first got there, [the man] went to the restroom, and stayed a few minutes, and finally came out with a machete,” Emery said.
Thomas said Mays had the machete “shoved down his britches,” and that he “threatened officers with it.”
Officers asked that the weapon be dropped and it was, Emery said.
But, he said, the man wasn’t apprehended without a struggle – officers “pursued” and “wrestled with” him before he was cuffed.
“We had a little bit of a scuffle with him,” he said. “All of it happened in probably less than a minute. A lot of stuff happen[ed] real quick.”
But, Emery said, no one was injured.
Mays was also charged with burglary and car theft stemming from two incidents that occurred the night before -- a wrecked car stolen from Papa Johns and a burglarized beauty shop, Emery said.
“He was possibly involved in the theft of an auto and possibly involved in a burglary,” he said. “We’re looking into that; they [the crimes] were all over right there in the same general vicinity.”
Some items that were stolen from the car were found in the beauty shop near the intersection of Vance Tank and Raytheon roads, Thomas said.
In addition, Thomas said, Mays is wanted in another state for theft of a car there.
He was being held without bond Thursday night in the Sullivan County jail.
arobinson@bristolnews.com
(276) 645-2531
Twitter: @BHC_Allie
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