An Ocean County man was on probation and pretrial release when he allegedly brandished a knife at the Egg Harbor Township Walmart.
David Brennan, 32, was ordered held in jail during a detention hearing Thursday.
But because of the holiday crowds, the store still had several customers inside after police arrived to handle the situation, according to information presented during the detention hearing.
“Who here feels threatened by me? Raise your hand,” the defendant yelled as police surrounded him, according to the charges.
Brennan, 32, ignored officer’s commands to surrender, and walked away down aisles. He did not have the knife out at that time, but through surveillance officers determined it to be a five inch hunting knife, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
Video showed him hunched over a laptop with the handle visible in his right hand, Assistant Prosecutor Logan Tower said.
A five-inch folding knife was later found in his right pants pocket, police said at the time.
Brennan was at the store trying to use a computer to contact his mother in Ocean County the day after his birthday in an attempt to get home, defense attorney Christina Naughton said.
He admitted to having a knife, but said he only took it out briefly, set it on the counter and then put it back in his pocket, according to Naughton.
Brennan refused commands, causing an officer to charge the suspect with his ballistic shield, striking him in the upper torso, Tower said.
An officer injured his knee arresting Brennan, resulting in an additional charge of aggravated assault.
But Naughton argued that the officer’s injury was not caused by her client, and instead was the result of him performing his duties.
Tower countered that it was the result of Brennan resisting.
The public safety assessment, which helps determine whether a defendant is held under bail reform, put Brennan at the highest risk for both failure to appear and likelihood to reoffend.
Judge William Miller said he felt that might be high considering Brennan’s criminal history of lower-level crimes, the judge did see him as a risk.
Brennan failed to appear for court hearings both this past April and in November of last year, records showed.
He also was under pretrial oversight in a simple assault case from last month out of Ocean County. Brennan also was on probation in another Ocean County case.
Drugs were also found on him, which the judge said could be an indication that he was high at the time. Brennan shook his head at that claim.
Miller did suggest Brennan may be a candidate for drug court.
He will now remain in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
