ROYAL OAK, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Royal Oak Police Department said a man is in custody for allegedly stabbing two people at an apartment on Saturday night, and later spitting and coughing on officers.
According to police, it started around 11:30 p.m. Saturday when they got multiple 911 calls about a woman being assaulted. Another call came from a male victim who said he and a woman were stabbed.
The victim told police she drove from Flint to hang out with the suspect, 22-year-old Brandon Newberry, and they met another friend at the bar and invited him back to the apartment.
At some point, Newberry became enraged and attacked them both, and the fight continued outside the apartment before going back inside.
After police arrived, Newberry reportedly barricaded himself in the apartment. Officers forced entry and located him in the shower.
Police say he resisted officers and was abusive, and when he was handcuffed, he tried to throw himself off the balcony and intentionally fall down the stairs.
"Newberry spit at and kicked officers as they attempted to escort him to their patrol car," police said, and he reamined combative during transport and at the station.
Police said in the hallway, he kicked over buckets collecting water from a leaking roof, and he also spit on an officer before a spit mask could be put on.
In the cell, he removed the spit mask and tried to choke himself with it.
Newberry allegedly put his mask in the toilet and then threw it at officers who approached the cell, hitting one in the face.
"Newberry exclaimed throughout the incident that he was trying to infect the officers with HIV & COVID," police said.
Newberry then tried to drown himself in the toilet, police said. He was transported to the hospital for treatment, as were the officers involved.
“To say the officers involved in this incident showed tremendous restraint would be an understatement. I am very proud of them and how they conducted themselves. They are both tough guys and can, quite frankly, handle some physical abuse, but the potential of the HIV and COVID exposure is going to cause a tremendous amount of anxiety for them and their young families” Chief Corrigan O’Donohue said.
He is charged with two counts of false exposure to harmful substance, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, one count of resisting and obstructing police.
