Officers arrested a severely agitated man who smashed a van window and a police patrol car windshield with a manhole cover Sunday afternoon near the Vancouver Farmers Market.
Vancouver police officers were called to the Esther Short Park area downtown around 3:10 p.m.
Sgt. Deb Libbey said a man there was behaving erratically near the market and making threats to kill people.
An officer confronted the man, and the man armed himself with a manhole cover, telling the officer to call for help, Libbey said.
“Which we did,” she said.
The man then smashed a van’s window with the manhole cover.
As more officers responded to attempt to corral the man, he apparently climbed on the hood of a patrol vehicle, then put a manhole cover through the car’s windshield, she said.
Officers detained the man, she said, and he was taken to a hospital.
Libbey said no one was hurt, adding that it appeared the man was dealing with a significant mental health crisis.
Libbey said the department was not sharing his name until he’s released from the hospital and charged, but she said he may face felony assault and malicious mischief charges.
“It was miraculous that nobody got injured, including him,” she said.
