Cops shot a machete-wielding man who threatened to kill a woman walking
her poodle late Tuesday in Clark, N.J., says a former Marine who came
to her rescue.
The witness said the suspect swung the large blade within inches of his pal.
Vietnam veteran Glenn Burkhardt was among three good Samaritans who
heard the woman’s screams and rushed to confront the armed man around
7:30 p.m. along Cellar Ave. near Lake Ave.
“He attacked the woman from out of nowhere,” Burkhardt told the Daily News. “He told the woman ‘I’m about to kill you.’”
The suspect, whose age and name was not immediately available, was shot while walking toward a police officer, according to WABC-TV, citing the Union County Prosecutor's office. The extent of his injuries are unclear at this time.
Calls to the Clark Police Department were not immediately returned.
Several streets in Clark were shut down due to the police shooting investigation.
Recalling the dramatic encounter, Burkhardt said the man shifted his
attention away from the distraught woman and chased the trio down the
street blade-in-hand.
Meanwhile, another witness called 911.
“I thought he was going to whack me from behind,” said Burkhardt, 62.
He flagged down a passing car and dived inside, watching the suspect run by not realizing he was inside the vehicle.
“Normally I would try to fight him off, but I just couldn’t do it,”
added Burkhardt, fearing the large blade and describing the suspect as
“bulky.”
“It was a machete. I’d kick his a-- to f---ing China. Sorry to curse,
but I’m more fed up,” he added, noting that many children live in the
neighborhood.
He identified his friends who helped save the woman as former
correction officer Walter Kawko, 48, and George Peterpaul, 57, who works
as a truck driver.
Burkhardt recognized the suspect as a man who lives in his apartment
building. He recently got a job at a local post office, he said.
“He went off the deep end,” he said.
He said no one was hurt by the would-be stabber — not even his buddy
Kawko, who was nearly struck by the machete when he first approached the
armed man.
“There’s no doubt in my mind if we didn’t do it, she’d be dead,” Burkhardt added.
