Photo courtesy of Dallas County Sheriff's office
Photo courtesy of Dallas County Sheriff’s office

Perry Police arrested a man who allegedly was holding a machete in the Soumas Court area.

Police Chief Eric Vaughn says officers responded to a call at 8pm Saturday in the Soumas Court area, property that belongs to the Hotel Pattee, of a man who was holding a machete. Vaughn says he spoke with witnesses who claimed they saw a man riding his bicycle through Soumas Court, removed a machete from his backpack and tried to discard it onto the property. The suspect then rode away but came back to retrieve the machete after witnesses demanded that he do so.

Vaughn and another officer found the suspect in the 500 block of Lucinda Street and asked about the incident. The suspect admitted to the incident and was subsequently arrested. During the investigation, Vaughn showed the weapon to the witnesses and they positively identified it as the one that the suspect had in the incident.

Richard Keller is charged with an aggravated misdemeanor for carrying weapons and a simple misdemeanor for trespassing. Vaughn points out that Keller has previously been served with a trespassing notice for the same property in June of 2017. Vaughn notes that Keller did not threaten or assault anyone with the machete during the incident. He is currently being held in the Dallas County Jail under a $2,000 bond.

Raccoon Valley Radio will bring you more information as it becomes official.