Man who threatened police with butcher knife, axe handle pleads guilty.

Alejandro Salazar with his attorney, Julie Springstead Waltz.

By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.

HART — A 31-year-old Mears man who confronted police with a fiberglass axe handle and a 12-inch butcher knife last April pleaded guilty in 27th Circuit Court Monday, May 23, to one count of felonious assault.

Alejandro Joseph Salazar, of 3511 N. Ridge Rd., faces a jail term that will not exceed nine months, said Oceana County Prosecutor Joseph Bizon, and a second count of felonious assault was dismissed in a plea agreement.

Salazar was tased by police after threatening them and asking officers to shoot him, previously stated Lt. Craig Mast of the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s deputies were called to Salazar’s residence, where they responded to a family disturbance. “There were several household items strewn about the yard, and there appeared to be a disturbance in progress,” Mast said.

Salazar approached the deputies, armed with a fiberglass axe handle, after exiting the house. He displayed the axe handle in an “aggressive manner,” the lieutenant said. “They told him to drop the weapon and come forward and talk to them,” Mast said. Salazar then retreated inside the house for a short period of time and came back outside with a butcher knife and the axe handle, continuing to act aggressively and threatening the officers.

Deputies then deployed a taser, and Salazar began to retreat, Mast said. A Michigan State Police trooper then arrived on scene and deployed his taser on Salazar. He was then taken to the ground and placed in custody.

Sentencing is set for July 6 at 9 a.m.