ROYAL OAK, Mich. – Brandon Newberry, 22, is facing charges in connection with a double stabbing that happened Friday night in the 2500 block of Rochester in Royal Oak.
According to Royal Oak police, multiple 911 calls were made about the double stabbing while it was happening at around 11:30 p.m. Friday night.
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There were several calls made from neighbors who reported hearing a woman scream. One of the calls was from the male victim who reported being stabbed in the forearm. The woman was stabbed in the hand.
When officers arrived to the scene they learned Newberry had barricaded himself inside the apartment.
The woman told police she drove from Flint to hang out with Newberry for the week. Both the woman and Newberry are friends. Newberry and the woman met another friend at a bar and invited him back to the apartment.
Police say Newberry became enraged, for unspecified reasons, and attacked the man and woman.
The fight continued outside of the apartment in front of the complex, then returned to the apartment.
Officers put a tourniquet on the male victim’s arm for his cut and separated the victims from the apartment to be treated by responding Royal Oak Fire Department personnel.
Neighbors confirmed that Newberry fled inside the apartment with a knife. Officers forced entry into the apartment and located Newberry in the shower.
Newberry resisted officers attempts to take him into custody and was verbally abusive. He also intentionally defecated on the arresting officers.
After Newberry was handcuffed, he tried to jump off the balcony and intentionally fall down the stairs.
Newberry spit at and kicked officers as they attempted to escort him to their patrol car.
Newberry was transported to the station and remained combative, trying to spit and intentionally cough on the officers. While in the elevator Newberry intentionally coughed on an officer before he could put a spit mask on him.
In the hallway of the cellblock area, Newberry intentionally kicked over buckets that were collecting water from the leaking roof.
After being placed in a cell, Newberry promptly removed the spit mask and tried to choke himself with it.
Officers approached the cell and Newberry put his mask into the toilet water and then threw it at the officers, hitting one in the face.
Newberry said throughout the incident that he was trying to infect the officers with HIV and COVID-19. He then tried to drown himself in the toilet, police say.
Newberry was transported to William Beaumont Hospital for treatment. The officers involved were also treated for their exposure.
“To say the officers involved in this incident showed tremendous restraint would be an understatement. I am very proud of them and how they conducted themselves. They are both tough guys and can, quite frankly, handle some physical abuse, but the potential of the HIV and COVID exposure is going to cause a tremendous amount of anxiety for them and their young families” said Royal Oak Police Chief Corrigan O’Donohue.
Newberry is charged with the following: Two counts of false exposure to harmful substance, a felony which carries a sentence of up to five years in prison; two counts of felonious assault with a dangerous weapon, a felony which carries a sentence of up to four years in prison; and one count of assaulting/resisting/obstructing police, a felony which carries a sentence of up to two years in prison.
Newberry’s criminal history includes convictions for assault and battery, malicious destruction of property, disturbing the peace and driving while license suspended.
He was arraigned on June 29 and his bond was set at $50,000.
His next court appearance is scheduled for July 10 at 8:30 a.m. before Judge Derek Meinecke of the 44th District Court.
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