Video: Dramatic Salinas Police Station Showdown With Woman Armed With Meat Cleaver
SALINAS (CBS SF) -- A 22-year-old Salinas woman was in custody Friday after she entered police headquarters, took a woman hostage, threatening her with a large meat cleaver and then was subdued by officers armed with tasers.
The dramatic one minute and 10 second showdown was captured on the police lobby's surveillance cameras.
Authorities said Mariel Capulong was taken into custody without further incident. She was being held on suspicion of kidnapping, false imprisonment and assault with a deadly weapon charges.
The incident began Wednesday afternoon at 4:10 p.m. inside the lobby of the Salinas Police headquarters. An unidentified 43-year-old woman had just finished up doing business at the front desk. As she was leaving, Capulong can be seen grabbing her on video, placing her in a headlock, holding her as a hostage and wielding the meat cleaver.
Capulong forced the woman into a chair, all the while the front desk personnel are yelling at her to drop her weapon.
Officers overhead the commotion and rushed to the lobby armed with handguns and tasers. Capulong was tasered and taken into custody. The hostage was shaken but otherwise uninjured.