A man who was fed up with drug use in his neighborhood confronted a person shooting heroin in a parked truck with an ax, striking its mirror, headlight and windshield, police said.
Dante Jewell was on his balcony Tuesday when he saw a man in a Ford Ranger shoot heroin around 6:45 p.m. and called police, according to WXIN.
"I just wasn't having it," Jewell, a former Narcotics Anonymous counselor, told WXIN.
“Especially since in this unit, I know people, some people have kids. There are families that are trying to get by without any trouble. This is becoming too much of a nuisance.”
Jewell placed an ax on his porch then confronted the 47-year-old man in the truck, according to WBIW.
The man tried swinging a syringe at Jewell, who grabbed the ax and swung it at the truck, breaking the mirror, headlight and windshield, according to WBIW.
The blows were enough to break Jewell's ax, according to WXIN.
"I will admit I may have overreacted. I probably should've just scared them into his vehicle and left it alone. At that point, when you see a used needle coming your way, I mean it becomes about survival," Jewell told WXIN.
The man in the truck drove off, called police and returned to the scene. He told police he was parked in his truck, reading a newspaper, when the man attacked him, police said.
He later admitted to shooting heroin in the truck, throwing away the syringe, then calling police. He said he never tried to hit the man with a syringe, police said.
Officers searched his vehicle and did not find any drugs or paraphernalia, according to WXIN.
Police continue to investigate. No charges have been filed yet.
"I'm confident they're not stupid enough to come back," Jewell told WXIN. "Yes, I'm confident I won't see them again."
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