Naked man confronts San Jose police with Samurai sword, assault rifle

SAN JOSE, Calif. A man with an assault rifle in his car removed his clothes and brandished a Samurai sword at police in west San Jose for more than two hours before he was arrested while trying to flee, a San Jose police spokesman said.

According to CBS San Francisco, Coco Bennett, 29, of unknown residence, was arrested on suspicion of brandishing a weapon and possession of an assault rifle, San Jose police spokesman Officer Albert Morales said.

Police recovered an AR-15-type assault rifle, with a magazine and live ammunition, from Bennett's car during the standoff at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail station on Bascom Avenue and Southwest Expressway, Morales said.

The incident began several miles to the east at 8:05 a.m. when police answered a report that a person was armed with an assault rifle in front of a residence near Ezie Street and Cas Drive in east San Jose, Morales said.

When police reached the residence the suspect was not there, but based on a description by witnesses of the suspect's pickup truck, patrol officers spotted the vehicle near the VTA station at about 8:30 a.m., Morales said.

The suspect drove into the station's parking lot, began to take off his clothing and emerged from the truck naked while brandishing an unsheathed Samurai sword at officers, Morales said.

"He said 'You're going to have to kill me'" to the officers," Morales said.

Officers closed the rail station, secured the immediate area and recovered the assault rifle, magazine and bullets from the pickup truck, Morales said.

Police notified the department's Crisis Intervention Team, which sent members over to talk to the suspect into giving up, Morales said.

"The thing we have on our side is time," Morales said of the more than two-hour negotiation that that followed.

"There is no sense in rushing it," Morales said. "Ultimately, we wanted him to drop the sword."

The crisis team attempted to cajole the nude suspect into standing down as a crowd of bystanders and "a lot of media" gathered at the scene, Morales said.

Finally at 11 a.m. the suspect, still carrying the sword, bolted toward a fence and tried to scale it, fell down, dropped the weapon, was taken into custody and transported to a hospital for treatment for minor injuries, Morales said.

Police were trying to determine what may have prompted the suspect to act the way he did, including his state of mental health and whether drugs or alcohol were factors, Morales said.

Some people in the neighborhood of Ezie Street and Cas Drive, where the original call came from, knew Bennett, Morales said.

[gearrunr]

We all come to crossroads in our lives. It's often very hard to know what to do when you reach them. Sometimes you go left, sometimes you go right, sometimes you take all your clothes off, grab a weapon of the ancient Orient and step out of the vehicle... The important thing is to not look back.

[CBSNancy]

hooo boy, now that the media is running low on oversea's carnage, they resort to this piddling stuff! it's actually far more amusing, less gory, and a clear indication of widespread psychological 'phenomena' within the confines of our great wonderful country. america can surely count itself as 'well appointed' with a variety of people, races, cultures and degrees of insanity. perhaps Holywould can capitalize on this trend, even make a theme park fashioned after a prison/psycho hospital for the insane, for the curious to blow money on. When Charlie Sheen was spazzing out, one of the late night hosts (Ferguson) did a wonderful short monologue regarding this. (a penny thru the hole)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WigGPO6EJ20

[nativecc]

First, it isn't an assault rifle. An assault rifle can fire bursts of multiple rounds or be fully automatic. Second, they sent a team in to "talk to him"? Obviously the idea of therapy as a way to help people isn't working so let's go back to spankings for kids and prisons that aren't country clubs and finally, it sounds like a samurai sword wasn't the only thing unsheathed.

[dizzzy1000]

1st u low lnfo voter. Its 1pull on the trigger 1 shot. 2nd they r not automatic dummy. Not even the soldiers use automatic .its a 3 round burst because after 3rounds ur off target only machine guns full auto.and only with special ffl can own 1 and 3rd we already have federal laws governing fully automatic weapons so stop talking out of your backside and do some research. Signed. Former marine. Mcagcc 29 palms

[gearrunr]

"Its 1pull on the trigger 1 shot." - What? I have a 12 gauge shotgun I use for pheasant hunting that's "One pull one shot" It holds 3 shells, 3 pulls of the trigger, 3 shots. So you're saying my 12 gauge is now an assault rifle? Or is it not simply because it's not a rifle? Here's where I think the definition stands in most goofy minds. Assault Rifle = Firearm.

[hemusbull]

One more idiots in the sea of brain underpowered Americans with psicho issues...At least no victims that 5time.

[bilrobi1]

That's Psycho.

[OliverHolz]

You have a right to be naked.
You have a right to have an AR-15.
You have the right to have a samurai sword.
You just aren't supposed to exercise all of these rights at the same time.

[foo8259]

Good one! Not sure if AR-15's are legal to own in CA though the way the report reads.