Police: Man Wielded Sword in Busy Downtown Alley

Police said a man swung a sword around and threatened to cut people with it in the 200 block of Prospect Street during the early morning hours Saturday.

Willard Lee “Man Man” Sallad, 42, with a last-known address in Phoenixville, faces a felony charge of terroristic threats causing serious public inconvenience along with weapons and drug misdemeanor charges. He remains in Chester County Prison on $25,000 bail.

According to the criminal complaint filed in district court, on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 1:17 a.m., Phoenixville Police were dispatched to the 200 block of Prospect Street for a report of a disturbance involving a man with a sword.

When an officer arrived, he saw two people pushing another man into a white Dodge Caravan parked in the middle of Prospect Street, according to the criminal complaint. A witness told police the man in the passenger seat had a sword.

The officer went to the passenger side of the vehicle and recognized Sallad, who was holding a sword with a 27-inch double-sided blade and a broken handle, according to court papers.

When Sallad noticed the officer, he allegedly put the sword on the van’s floor. He was handcuffed and the sword was removed.

“Sallad was obviously intoxicated and was placed in my patrol vehicle,” the officer wrote in the affidavit. “A witness at the scene stated that Sallad picked up the sword somewhere in the area of 217 Prospect St. and began to swing it around, stating that he was going to ‘cut you all’ and began to hit the vehicle with it.”

The alleged incident occurred close to Club 212, where people were standing outside smoking cigarettes.

At the police station, as Sallad was taking off his sweater, a big zip-top bag fell from his left sleeve, according to police. The big bag held nine smaller individual bags containing a substance that field-tested positive for the presence of cocaine, according to the criminal complaint.

In addition to the felony charge, Sallad was charge with possessing an instrument of crime, a weapons violation, four counts of disorderly conduct, possession of a controlled substance, drug possession with intent to deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia, intent to deliver drug paraphernalia, reckless endangerment and a summary public drunkenness charge.

Sallad was arraigned on Saturday morning by District Judge James DeAngelo, who set bail at $25,000 cash. A preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 16 in district court in Phoenixville.