Sheriff's office: Suicidal man arrested with weapon outside church Sunday

Churchgoers were hurried back inside Monroe's The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Sunday afternoon when a man with knives refused to get out of his car in the parking lot at 17372 Tester Road. 

The 58-year-old Monroe man had just come from attending a service, and Snohomish County Sheriff's Office deputies had approached him regarding a report of a stolen jacket at the church around 3:30 p.m., according to agency spokesperson Courtney O'Keefe. She said law enforcement learned the man had a Department of Corrections escape warrant out for his arrest.

He reportedly showed deputies he had a weapon. O'Keefe said one of the knives on him was a thick-blade long knife. She said he refused to get out of the vehicle, and was threatening suicide.

Tester Road was shut down for part of the standoff, O'Keefe said. People were kept inside the church for more than two hours to ensure their safety. Monroe Police responded as well.

Sheriff’s spokesperson Shari Ireton said deputies used pepper spray inside the man’s vehicle, which was effective in getting him to get out. He was arrested, treated for the chemical exposure, and then booked into Snohomish County Jail.

O'Keefe said the stolen jacket was found in his car.