Video footage captured the wild moment a Washington state deputy threw a lasso at a man wielding a chainsaw. The video on NBC News showed the Pierce County officer lassoing the chainsaw wielder standing in a pond to detain him.
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Video Shows Deputy Lassoing Man Wielding Chainsaw
According to the 32-year-old man’s neighbors, he was threatening his father with the chainsaw in a yard. The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the suspect was running after both his parents. Deputies received the call to report to the incident on Saturday afternoon.
The video shared on Monday showed the chainsaw wielder hop into a nearby pond. Officers flanked him on all sides, trying to convince the man to leave the pond. For an entire hour, the man refused to leave his spot.
“I can’t talk to you with a chainsaw,” said one officer in the video. Deputies even threatened to use a beanbag gun on the man during the video.
That was, until one cowboy-inspired deputy attempted to use a rope lasso to pull him to shore. It was a successful first throw, the officer managing to rope the suspect out of the pond.
The authorities were finally able to handcuff him and bring him to a local hospital. Doctors are now treating him for mental health issues, according to the sheriff’s office.
“A lasso is definitely something you don’t normally see on a regular basis,” said Deputy Carly Cappetto, public information officer, via King 5. “But great job to these deputies that thought outside of the box on a method that wasn’t going to cause any harm or hurt anybody, and he was safely able to get to the hospital and get the mental health services that he needed.”
“The subject’s suffering a mental health crisis with a deadly weapon, that’s made threats and doesn’t want help,” Cappetto added. “How do you combat that and take them safely into custody? Well, a lasso clearly did it in this case.”