A man armed with a samurai sword was arrested by Lewiston police after threatening a convenience store clerk Sunday night.
Lt. Mike McGonagle said Joshua Kyle, 28, of Lewiston is well known to police because he carries the 4-foot-long sword just about everywhere he goes in the city.
“He carries the sword around with him all the time,” McGonagle said. “Just about everyone in the department knows who he is.”
On Sunday evening, Kyle and a girl who is a minor entered the Big Apple convenience store on Main Street and tried to buy alcohol. When he was denied by the clerk, Kyle made some type of verbal threat and alluded to the sword, which he carries in black scabbard on his side, McGonagle said.
McGonagle said Kyle never drew the sword from its scabbard. “He did not grab the sword or display the sword, but he had some words with the clerk, which scared the clerk,” McGonagle said.
Kyle left the store and the clerk called 911. Lewiston police found him a short time later and arrested him.
Kyle, who police say is a transient, was held Monday night in the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn on a charge of criminal threatening, a felony. His bail was set at $250 cash, according to jail intake workers.
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