Montgomery County police arrested and charged a 24-year-old Silver Spring man after he allegedly attempted to assault three random people with a machete Sunday at a shopping center in Silver Spring, according to a Tuesday statement from police.
Maikol Darinson Vicente Gomez was charged with three counts of first-degree assault and second-degree assault, two counts of vandalism, resisting arrest and related charges. He is being held at the county’s Central Processing Unit in Rockville without bond.
According to online court records, Vicente Gomez is being represented by the Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office. Bethesda Today couldn’t immediately get in contact with the public defender’s office Tuesday afternoon for comment.
On Sunday at 5:42 p.m. officers responded to Westech Corner shopping center at Broadbirch Drive and Tech Road in Silver Spring due to reports of a male armed with a machete, according to charging documents.
According to the documents, an officer located the suspect later identified as Vicente Gomez, running toward TGI Friday, while holding a machete in the air, attempting to hit vehicles. The officer drove toward Vicente Gomez who then jumped between parked cars and began to run toward an IHOP while hitting vehicles. The officer pursued him and Vicente Gomez was arrested after he tripped, fell and dropped the machete. According to radio transmissions, Vicente Gomez was in custody by 5:46 p.m.
According to the charging documents, several witnesses told officers that Vicente Gomez ran after them with the machete, including one person who was attempting to enter Public Storage and saw Vicente Gomez running toward them. They entered their vehicle and made it inside the storage center’s gate to escape. While inside the storage center, the documents state that Vicente Gomez hit the closed gate before leaving.
Another person told officers Vicente Gomez stood directly in front of their vehicle before making his way to the driver’s side door, according to the documents. As the victim “sped off,” Vicente Gomez allegedly hit their car with the machete.
