Utica Man Who Threw Knives at Police Sentenced to Jail

One of Utica wildest arrests from last year ended with a guilty plea and a prison sentence.

Arrest on July 28

Photo Credit - Digital Vision/Thinkstock

Utica Police had their work cut out for them on the evening of July 28, when they responded to calls of a man acting erratically and making threats in the area of Lafayette Street and State Street.

According to their public Facebook post, this is how authorities encountered 43-year-old Joseph Arsenault.

They first noticed that he had applied a tourniquet style wrap to his upper arm and had multiple hypodermic needles sticking out from the arm.

He was also armed with two knives, one in each hand, and was said to have been waving them around while making statements that he was going to harm those near him.

Police vacated pedestrians from the area and unsuccessfully attempted to reason with Arsenault, but found it difficult due to his state.

The situation turned dangerous when Arsenault began walking toward police and raised his knives in an aggressive manner. Police say Arsenault then threw both knives at police, but no one was hurt. One officer ducked behind a tree and avoid being struck.

The second officer deployed the Taser and Arsenault was handcuffed.

Sentenced on March 6

Photo by Damir Spanic on Unsplash (Stock photo)

Arsenault appeared in Oneida County Court on Wednesday morning for his sentencing. He was originally charged with two counts of menacing a police officer as well as criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.

The charges were revised and, in December, Arsenault pled guilty to one count of criminal trespass. That plea sentenced him to 90 days in jail.

Lengthy Record

This isn't the first time Joseph Arsenault crossed paths with Utica police. He had a brush with state troopers in May 2023, and was famously arrested back in June for allegedly threatening another person with swords in a North Utica hotel.

For the latter incident, police recovered eight swords in the hotel room. Arsenault was charged with menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: This post is for informational purposes. The information provided within was provided publicly by law enforcement. Any charges or accusations of wrongdoing mentioned in the article are only allegations and the reader is reminded that all persons are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.]

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