Long Branch resident Robert Powers Sr. was attacked by his son, Robert Powers Jr., who yielded a machete and a switchblade knife upon the arrival of Long Branch Police Department (LBPD) last Monday. Powers Sr. received first aid for a head injury, according to LBPD.
Long Branch Director of Public Safety Jason Roebuck said that LBPD received a call about two males fighting outside at 121 Brighton Avenue around 5:00 pm on Monday. One of the subjects threatened to kill the other and then dragged him back into the house.
When police arrived on the scene, Powers Sr. opened the door bleeding from a head wound. He told officers he was attacked by his son and was then removed from the residence, according to Roebuck. Powers Jr., who was still inside, approached the officers with a switchblade knife. The officers drew their weapons and backed out of the residence, he said.
The officers were followed out by Powers Jr., who claimed that he was “Jesus Christ” and “the second coming of the Satanic Christ,” according to Public Safety. Powers Jr. went back inside while police surrounded the house, said Roebuck.
The subject continued to yell incoherently at the officers using racial slurs and inappropriate names while holding a machete. Powers Jr. also made a fake Molotov cocktail, which police suspected to be made with water and a wick, Roebuck added.
Reinforcements called to the scene included the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team (MOCERT), West Long Branch Police Department (WLBPD), Long Branch Fire and First Aid and other off-duty officers, according to Public Safety.
After refusing to exit the residence peacefully through negotiation, Powers Jr. was taken out of the house by MOCERT and arrested for simple assault, criminal restraint, possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, and terroristic threats, said Roebuck. The switchblade and machete were taken from the scene and Powers Jr. was taken to Monmouth Medical Center for psychiatric screening.
University alum Anthony Panissidi covered the story for the Asbury Park Press. He said he received the news at approximately 6:20 pm. “I was very worried because I still have a lot of friends who go to Monmouth. I was just hoping none of them were in any danger,” he said. “There are a lot of nut jobs out there and it’s unfortunate that things like that have to happen.”
Sebastian Pedrick, a bartender at Brighton Bar located in front of the Powers’ home, said that Long Branch got carried away while handling the incident. “I think the city went a little too far with the swat team thing, but I understand because everyone is on high alert because of the Boston bombing,” said Pedrick.
Monmouth University Police Department’s Chief of Police Bill McElrath said he was off-duty when he received the call about the incident around 6:25 pm. McElrath requested that the dispatcher on duty begin preparing the Blackboard Connect message, MUPD’s way of informing students of dangerous situations, he added.
The message sent to students via text message and phone call stated that there was police activity on Brighton Avenue and to avoid the area. It also advised students to “check University emails for further information.”
“We are unfortunately limited in the number of characters that we can send out in an emergency text message,” said McElrath. “This forces us to be brief and concise in what we send out, which is not necessarily a bad thing during an emergency.” The primary information that MUPD includes in their messages is location, brief nature of the issue and a short course of action to be taken, McElrath added.
The priorities when releasing information to students for this situation was that the most accurate information was given and that students were notified when the problem was cleared, according to McElrath. “MUPD was trying to be proactive in notifying our students of the incident. At the time I received information on what was taking place, the suspect had not yet been arrested and it was unknown what, if any, weapons were involved,” he said. McElrath added that there was no threat to the campus since the suspect was contained.
Roebuck said that all threats of danger from the incident have been removed and no one was seriously injured on the scene.
