SPD arrests man with machete in Chinatown–International District
Feb 20, 2026, 2:18 PM | Updated: 3:17 pm
Police recovered a machete and knife from a suspect Thursday. (Courtesy Seattle Police Department)
(Courtesy Seattle Police Department)
The Seattle Police Department (SPD) arrested a man with a machete Thursday in Seattle’s Chinatown–International District.
In addition to the machete, police said the 42-year-old also had a knife on him.
According to a post on the SPD Blotter, he cut through wires on a telephone pole.
“At about 9:40 a.m., patrol officers responded to reports of an erratic, stumbling man cutting a phone cable on a utility pole with a machete near the Yesler Way overpass over Interstate 5,” the post stated. “Officers approached the suspect, yet he refused to drop the weapon. They deployed a taser to take him into custody for Unlawful use of weapons.”
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The man was also wanted on a $30,000 felony warrant for burglary, police said.
He was booked into jail, and officers recovered the knife and machete as evidence.
Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.
