BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A Bloomington man faces charges after police say he followed people on a trail and threatened them with a machete.
The court document filed in the case against Jeremy Roberts reads like a short horror story. Four people were walking down the B-Line Trail late Saturday afternoon when a stranger approached them.
The 5’7″ tall, 220-pound man approached them, the court document indicated, saying, “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Trying to ignore the man, the document said the group walked away, only for the man to approach them again, asking, “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Again, the group tried to walk away, but the document indicated the man continued after them, pulling out a machete from his sweatshirt pocket. Members of the group told police it was black with a serrated edge.
One of the group members said the man cocked the machete back as if preparing to swing it. By this time, the document stated the man was extremely close to them. One of the group members said they yelled to alert other group members.
The group ran away, and the document said the man continued to stare at them.
When police arrived, they patted Roberts down, noticing a large bulge in his front sweatshirt pocket. During the pat down, they found a machete in that pocket, according to the court document.
The document said Roberts told police that he was walking down the trail but didn’t approach the group. He admitted to taking out the machete but claimed to have kept it sheathed. Police noted that the machete in Roberts’ possession matched the description given by the group members.
Roberts was arrested on a preliminary charge of intimidation with a deadly weapon.