Text might have saved woman from assault

Olympia police say a woman’s text to a friend might have prevented a domestic assault.

Officers were called to a welfare check just after 1 a.m. Monday at the Courtside Apartments in the 600 block of American Street Southwest near Capital Medical Center. A woman had texted a friend out of fear that her child’s father was going to hurt her because he was high on drugs and acting erratically, according to police. The friend then contacted police.

When officers arrived, a distraught woman left the home with the child and both were unharmed, officials said. Inside, officers saw a man with his back to them. The man turned around, pulled an 8-inch knife from his pocket and raised it in the air with a blank stare on his face, police report. He dropped the knife and complied with police instructions before resisting arrest, according to police.

It took three officers to restrain the man, who was hallucinating and talking to himself, according to police. Police located a glass pipe that tested positive for methamphetamine.

Instead of charging the man with obstruction, officers took him to the crisis unit at Providence St. Peter Hospital because of his behavior, police said. The man’s identity has not been released.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Text might have saved woman from assault."