Police standoff with knife wielding homeless man in Brawley

A homeless man is behind bars after threatening customers at a Brawley laundromat with a knife, leading to a standoff with law enforcement.

A standoff between Brawley police and a knife-wielding homeless man Tuesday night ended with law enforcement using non-lethal force to take him into custody.

Officers arrived on the scene and tried to de-escalate the situation.

Commander Brett Houser of the Brawley Police Department said, “Officers gave him commands to drop the knife and he refused to drop the knife. And at some point in time made multiple advancements towards the officers with the knife.”

That’s when law enforcement jumped into action.

“When the opportunity arose that they could use less than lethal beanbags rounds, they did so. Firing a few rounds at him where he dropped the knife. Officers then went hands-on and arrested him,” said Houser.

Police said the suspect was possibly under the influence.

Houser said, “That’s still pending the investigation. But agitation, irrationality, threats of violence. Those are all indications of possibly some controlled substance.”

The suspect was later identified as 34-year old Joseph Grayson who could be facing multiple charges.

Houser added, “Criminal threats, brandishing a weapon with intent to commit a threat, and also threatening and resisting a police officer.”

Brawley police said that no officer or customers were injured during the standoff.