Woman armed with meat cleaver takes hostage

A woman armed with a meat cleaver took another woman hostage in the lobby of a Northern California police department.

Salinas police say the 22-year-old suspect charged into the station, grabbed a woman by the neck, and waved the cleaver in the air.

Moments later several officers surged out of the back of the police station, and ordered the woman to drop her weapon. Once she did, her hostage made her escape.

That’s when one officer used a stun gun to subdue her.

The entire incident lasted around two-minutes.

The hostage was scared, but not hurt.

A woman armed with a meat cleaver briefly took another woman hostage in Northern California police department lobby in an incident caught on video.

Salinas Police on Friday posted surveillance video on Twitter that shows a woman holding another woman by the neck with one arm and holding a cleaver in the air with the other.

The video shows six officers rushing into the lobby with stun guns and firearms drawn.

Assistant Chief Roberto Filice tells The Californian officers ordered her to drop the meat cleaver and the victim was able to escape. He says an officer then used a stun gun on the suspect once, incapacitating her.

He says the incident lasted less than two minutes and that the officers displayed “great de-escalation tactics.”

Police arrested 22-year-old Mariel Capulong.