Police: Man arrested after scuffle with Hamilton officer had 3 knives

An officer and suspect declined medical treatment Tuesday morning after a brief scuffle when the man refused to leave a county parking garage. FILE PHOTO

An officer and suspect declined medical treatment Tuesday morning after a brief scuffle when the man refused to leave a county parking garage. FILE PHOTO

Police arrested a 73-year-old man on Tuesday after he refused to leave a parking garage behind the city/county government complex at 315 High St.

Donald Leroy McDonald of Hamilton was charged with misdemeanor offenses of resisting arrest and criminal trespassing after an officer found him sitting in an area of the parking garage near a shopping cart.

A county parking garage employee told police he had been told to leave the property, and police had told him to leave about an hour earlier, according to a Hamilton police report.

McDonald argued and said he was not going to leave during the 10:54 a.m. incident. He then placed his left hand behind his back, refusing to show it when told to do so. The officer told him he would be arrested and checked for weapons, and McDonald said he had one, the report states.

After McDonald refused to let go of the shopping cart, the officer took the 6-foot, 180-pound man to the ground to place him under control. He was found to have three knives on him, the report states.

Police spokesman Sgt. Richard Burkhardt said both the officer and McDonald declined medical attention from a city emergency squad.

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