A man wielding a makeshift sword burst into a Stockton convenience store Saturday morning, and police had to go to great lengths to prevent any injuries.
Police say Thomas Neel, 20, of French Camp, entered a Chevron convenience store around 8 a.m., brandishing the weapon and threatening customers and employees. Nobody was immediately injured, but when police arrived, Neel seemed to want a violent confrontation.
“He was acting very erratically,” said Ofc. Pete Smith of the Stockton Police Department. “Mr. Neel was actually saying to the officers that he doesn’t mind if they shoot him… ‘I want blood.'”
Police tried shooting Neel three times with as stun gun, but the device did not work. In the end, they resorted to a 37-millimeter Sage gun, a less-than-lethal device that shoots a black, plastic projectile.
“It’s the same thing as being hit by a major league fastball at about 90 miles per hour,” Smith said.
Neel fell to the floor, and officers, including K-9 units, swarmed him, taking him into custody without further incident.
Neel is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. where he faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon. Police do not yet know if drugs played a role in the incident.
Beheadings and sword fights in suburbia. I’m waiting for Sean Connery to tell us There Can Be Only One.
Why are people so sure that crime will go down if drugs are legalized?
I think that more drug addicts = more insane criminals.
#1 – If drugs were legalized, drug possession crimes would go down. 🙂
The cops showed great restraint. If that happened in the US, and the stun gun didn’t work, he would be laying on a slab in a cold drawer.
If something like this happened in Mexico, “There can be only Juan”.
#3 – It did happen in the US. Stockton is in Northern California (still part of the Union, last time I checked).
He should have been wearing a kilt!
I’d like to see a follow up report to see what drugs this guy has been taking…
If the police can show such restraint with some idiot wielding a huge dangerous weapon, why on earth do they need to tazer a kid with a broken back?
My congratulations to the involved police for doing their job the way it should be done.
#8 I agree. They did an excellent job.
Before you can become a policeperson, you have to pass a psychological examination which includes an assessment for rational sensibility.
Never mind, I was thinking of that other planet ….
… my post #11 was in answer to Mr. Fusion, #8. 🙂
#9 I think the name you’re looking for is Zweihander.
Nice lookin kid.
Good to see the police handled the situation well.
So now we get to pay to have him incarcerated for god knows how long. “Oh but if we medicate him he’ll be better..” You know what, if I get to the point I walk into an f’in store with a sword and say “I want blood.” You better shoot me, because I’m not going to get better till I’m dead, period.
First of all, Ah! Stockton! California’s little snatch of Florida and Texas all wrapped up into one stinking bog hole.
Now, as to what drugs he was on, his behavior is more indicative of alcohol than anything else, but could be a lot of things. Caffeine withdrawal is enough to make me want blood, but as long as I have my fix, I’m fine. I’ll bet heroin addicts are the same.
Could be schizophrenia if not drug induced or a mix of both.
I’m impressed, I thought the cops would have shot him so many times you couldn’t diferentiate his corpse against a hamburger patty.
Probably a Tuchux who couldn’t afford a trip to Pennsic War this year!!!
Adam Curry, stop with the conspiracy theories! This could be you. Wait, it kind of looks like you.
#16
I live in Stockton, and we don’t have hanging chads, nor redneck police officers. The police involved acctually did thier job properly. This isn’t a story about bad police and them abusing thier powers, but by how fucked up this guy was.
Thomas Neel lives in French Camp? If anyone is familiar with this area you know that no one lives in French Camp.. it’s practically a ghost town. Maybe he’s homeless living in some abandoned gas station (from the 1950s) in French Camp. If I lived in French Camp, I’d probably go nuts like this since that town is so small there’s absolutely nothing to do there.