Cool-headed Hub cop credited with disarming suspect

A quick-thinking Hub police sergeant is being praised for showing extreme restraint while disarming and arresting a knife-wielding man, who charged at him and threatened to kill him, police say.

Boston police Sgt. Mark Vickers, who was the first officer to respond to a report of a man threatening women and security officers with a three-inch pocket knife at TD Garden about 9:50 p.m. Thursday, said 20-year-old Michael Garrick of Boston rushed at him as soon as he got out of his cruiser.

“His advance at me was so fast that before I could exit the motor vehicle, he was already about four feet or so from my door,” Vickers said at the scene, according to police.

Police say Garrick, who security officers said had been aggressive and vulgar toward women and children in the area, “charged at (Vickers), screaming that he would kill (him).”

After drawing his firearm, police say Vickers convinced Garrick to drop the knife and placed him under arrest with the help of a state trooper.

Witnesses said Garrick had been wreaking havoc before the police arrived. One man told police he tried to intervene when Garrick began harassing women in the area and, despite being taunted and called a series of vulgarities, managed to lead him out of the building.

Once outside, the witness told police Garrick pulled out a pocket knife, flipped the blade open and told him to “come to him so he can stab him.”

Police Commissioner William B. Evans “commended the restraint and quick-thinking used by his officers in detaining a suspect threatening others’ lives with a dangerous weapon,” police said.

Garrick has been charged with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of threatening to commit a crime, according to court documents. He was ordered released on $1,500 personal recognizance.