Crime & Safety
Man with Machete Wanted to 'Teach Neighbors Respect,' Police Say
E. Fourth Street man at first ignored orders to drop the 18-inch blade as he walked toward police, court papers say.
A SouthSide man carrying a machete and vowing to “teach his neighbor some respect” walked toward police and at first ignored their orders to put down the weapon before finally obeying, according to police.
Police say the incident involving Horacio Vasquez, 46, occurred around 6 p.m. Tuesday near his home on the 1100 block of E. Fourth Street. Police also say Vasquez apparently was intoxicated.
Officer Keith Fryslin writes in a criminal complaint that police were dispatched to the E. Fourth Street area for a report of a man with a gun. He was described as wearing a red hoodie.
Police said they saw a man with a red hoodie walking out of his apartment – not with a gun but with a machete in his hand.
They ordered the man – later identified as Vasquez – to put down the knife, which had an 18-inch-long blade, according to court records. He told them “he was going to teach his neighbor some respect.”
The complaint does not say what may have led Vasquez to say that.
Vasquez continued walking toward police while being repeatedly ordered to drop the machete, court records say. He finally did, and police took him into custody.
Fryslin said the man smelled of alcohol. He was given a preliminary blood test, which police said registered positive for alcohol.
Vasquez was charged with possessing instruments of crime, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. He was arraigned later Tuesday night by on-duty District Judge Robert Hawke of Lehigh Township and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail.
