Berkeley Cop Subdue Machete, Saw-Wielding Suspect

How long can you hope to resist arrest while holed up in an unoccupied house, with both a machete and a saw at your disposal? About 3 1/2 hours, as police and a SWAT team in Berkeley displayed on Tuesday.

Burglary suspect Kamal Abdul Khalid, 65, holed up in a Parker Street house in Berkeley after he was caught trying to steal a bike from a nearby basement. Both sharp objects came from the same basement.

The homeowner caught him in the act and chased him outside wielding a baseball bat. The two had a brief standoff in the middle of the street before Khalid "beat his way into" an unoccupied house with the machete.

When cops arrived and told Khalid to put down his weapons, he instead broke into another house and holed up there, acording to the Oakland Tribune.

In came the SWAT team, who after three hours of waiting, entered the home. As they went in, Khalid came out, and was taken into custody.

At the scene, about 15 SWAT team members, several detectives, other sharpshooters with rifles, and a fire truck and ambulance were standing by, the newspaper reported. Cops were praised for their handling of the incident.

"I'm really happy the way the Berkeley police handled this," said Shedrick Gandy, the man who discovered Khalid in the basement trying to pilfer a bike. "They were very patient with the guy, because he needs help."