Machete-waving man interrupts afternoon rush hour in Bradenton

Monday afternoon rush-hour traffic came to a halt in Bradenton as a man waving a machete yelled at drivers.

Moments after 5 p.m. Monday, Bradenton police received a report of a machete-waving man on State Road 64 East, and about a dozen officers responded to the scene. The man had been reported to be on the bridge over the Braden River initially, but officers found him in the 4200 block.

Initially, the man did not comply with an officer’s demands to put down the machete, according to Bradenton Assistant Police Chief Josh Cramer.

With drivers watching at a distance, officers drew their weapons as they approached the man, who was sitting on a wall outside the adjacent subdivision on the north side of the road. Other officers and Manatee County Emergency Medical Services personnel blocked westbound traffic as the drama unfolded.

“We were prepared with all levels of force,” Cramer said. “It appeared he wanted an audience, so we let him talk.”

But when officers told him it was time to take him into custody, according Capt. John Affolter said, the man surrendered without resistance.

The man won’t face any criminal charges and instead was involuntarily hospitalized under the Baker Act, authorities said.

This story was originally published October 16, 2017 at 6:38 PM with the headline "Machete-waving man interrupts afternoon rush hour in Bradenton."