Deputies of the Logan County Sheriff’s Office report a Marysville man faces charges of inducing panic, breaking and entering, felonious assault and attempted vehicular assault related to an incident Friday morning in the parking lot of Honda of America at East Liberty, 11000 State Route 347.
Benjamin E. Archer, 32, was lodged in the Logan County Jail after the incident about 9:40 a.m. after he crashed into a fence at the facility and then allegedly walked toward a maintenance building while armed with a knife.
Deputies said security personnel had him in custody upon their arrival, and Archer was treated at the scene by EMS for a cut he sustained. No other injuries were reported.
Archer, a former employee of the plant, told deputies that he came back to the facility to return his uniforms and that he intended “to hurt people.”
Relating to the crash, deputies said the defendant was operating a Ford Ranger in the parking lot and drove over a concrete curb, through a steep ditch and struck a security fence, where the pickup came to a final rest after being hung up by the fence. The large ditch separates the employee parking lot from the East Liberty Plant, deputies noted.
Security camera footage reportedly showed an individual walking across the parking lot and then having to dive out of the way to avoid being hit when Archer drove through in his pickup.
Security personnel stated that after Archer crashed his vehicle, he exited the pickup and started walking toward the maintenance building while wielding a knife.
A security officer stated he tried to use his security vehicle to block the entrance door to the maintenance building. The defendant then allegedly attempted to use the handle of his knife to break the window of the security vehicle before he was disarmed and detained.
Deputies were able to obtain from security personnel the large kitchen knife used during the incident and placed it in evidence.
The defendant’s vehicle also was towed from the scene with a court order.