Man threatens cops with coronavirus, then floods cell

NEWTOWN »A Broomall man who was in police custody is facing several assault-related charges after he is alleged to have coughed on officers and then threatened to give them coronavirus.

Police identified the suspect as James MacMichael, 32, of the 400 block of Yale Avenue.

MacMichael was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, three counts of assault by a prisoner, possession of an instrument of crime, simple assault and other charges.

The incident began when police were called to a home on Third Avenue in Newtown Square on March 21 at 9:09 p.m. for a report of an assault in progress. As police arrived, a second call came in reporting the subject had a knife.

Once police got inside the home, they found MacMichael

and a woman on the ground.

After speaking with witnesses, police determined that MacMichael was at the home drinking with two others, a male and a female, when he began hitting the man. After hitting the man, he then struck the woman before pulling out a folding knife.

According to police, MacMichael was taken into custody to be charged with the assault.

But when MacMichael was brought back to police headquarters and when he was helped out of the police transport vehicle, he leaned out of the vehicle and began to aggressively hack and cough in an officer’s direction, police said.

According to police, the officers believed he was attempting to vomit on them. Police backed away and after he stopped coughing, MacMichael was removed from the transport vehicle.

As he was removed, police said MacMichael again turned his head and coughed into the face of one of the officers.

After hitting the first officer with a cough, police said, MacMichael then turned his head and began coughing on other officers.

Police said MacMichael then made comments that he wanted to give them coronavirus. Due to the alleged actions of MacMichael, police placed a spit mask on him.

Once inside a cell, police said MacMichael then began continuously flushing the toilet. He then removed his pants and attempted to clog it. Next, he grabbed a blanket to stop up a drain. Within minutes, water was running into the hallway and seeping into the processing room.

According to police, the members of the township’s highway department had to respond to turn off the water and disinfect the flooded areas.

Following his arraignment, MacMichael was held on $25,000 bail.

“It’s a part of who we are as a church, and we’ve had blizzards in the past, we’ve had power outages and I always thought we’ve seen it all until we had this pandemic.”