Cleaver-wielding woman takes hostage inside Salinas police station

A woman armed with a meat cleaver briefly took another woman hostage in Northern California police department lobby in an incident caught on video.|
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

SALINAS - A woman armed with a meat cleaver briefly took another woman hostage in Northern California police department lobby in an incident caught on video.

Salinas Police on Friday posted surveillance video on Twitter that shows a woman holding another woman by the neck with one arm and holding a cleaver in the air with the other.

The video shows six officers rushing into the lobby with stun guns and firearms drawn.

Assistant Chief Roberto Filice tells The Californian officers ordered her to drop the meat cleaver and the victim was able to escape. He says an officer then used a stun gun on the suspect once, incapacitating her.

He says the incident lasted less than two minutes and that the officers displayed "great de-escalation tactics."

Police arrested 22-year-old Mariel Capulong.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.
Send a letter to the editor