Passerby halts assault with ‘bear hug’
Published 8:30 am Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Multiple passersby intervened Tuesday evening during a downtown assault, police say, and one got up close and personal with the accused attacker.
At about 5:19 p.m. Tuesday, the Juneau Police Department got multiple calls about a man with a knife hitting another man repeatedly, according to a JPD press release. Witnesses told police that a 51-year-old man and 44-year-old woman were walking near the clock at the corner of Franklin and Front streets at the time when a man, identified as 39-year-old Thomas J. May, began yelling at them.
[Man arrested for threatening, robbing pedestrians with gun]
May, a Juneau resident, then began punching the 51-year-old man, police say. Several people intervened, and a 37-year-old Juneau man jumped in and put May in a “bear hug,” as the police describe it in the release. The man released May quickly, concerned because May had a knife on him, the release states.
After the 37-year-old man subdued him, May fled the scene. The 51-year-old man and his companion both knew May, and were able to identify him to police.
Officers found May in a matter of minutes, arrested him for third-degree assault and took him to Lemon Creek Correctional Center.
