Samurai Sword-Wielding Local Man Arrested

A Brownleigh Road man wielding a samurai sword yielded to modern weaponry and was arrested Wednesday in a bizarre and apparently drug-fueled episode in a parking lot at . The incident also involved another allegedly delusional man with a child, said.

The man, a licensed practical nurse believed to have been under the influence of PCP, or “Angel Dust,” had a large stash of weapons in a blue Cadillac sedan, including a machete, several knives, a solid piece of pipe and a brick, police said.

A 3-year-old girl was also in the Cadillac that was parked in the busy shopping plaza at 1489 New Britain Ave., police said. An employee of Trader Joe’s called police after seeing the man waving a knife and later pounding the pavement around his car with a hammer, police said.

Presley Eze, 24, of 17 Brownleigh Road, dropped the approximately 3-foot long samurai sword -- with a 26-inch blade -- and surrendered to police at about 3 p.m. after Officer Dante Ursini had taken aim with a Taser gun, police said.

“It was very clear that he was hallucinating due to the fact that he was rambling and not making sense and under the influence of a narcotic, most likely PCP,” Ursini said in an arrest affidavit.

Eze was arraigned Thursday in Hartford Superior Court on charges of illegal possession of weapons in a motor vehicle, risk of injury to a child, and breach of peace. He was held on bail set at $25,000 and is scheduled back in court May 16.

Before police arrived, one of several Trader Joe’s workers who gave statements to police said Eze was outside, near the entrance, “waving [a knife] around as if he was in his own world.”

Earl Ceasar, 35, of 197 S. Whitney St. in Hartford, was also arrested and charged with risk of injury to a child. The child was apparently in Ceaser’s care when they entered Trader Joe’s along with Eze and used the bathrooms, police said.

The relationship between the young girl and Ceasar was unclear in a redacted arrest report. A court affidavit indicates Ceasar, who is unemployed, has three children and family in West Hartford.

The state Department of Children and Families was contacted before the child was given to her mother, police said.

Other information in connection to the case was sealed from view by the court.

Ceasar apparently has a long history with Hartford, Manchester, Wethersfield and West Hartford police. He has 11 convictions and jail time dating to 2002, including convictions for possession of narcotics, sale of narcotics, larceny, and assault, according to court records.

Ceasar, who posted $5,000 bail, was taken by ambulance to a hospital for evaluation “due to his obvious signs of hallucinations, delusions and signs of using PCP,” police said.

Eze had a seizure at West Hartford police headquarters during his booking, police said. He was treated by paramedics and taken by ambulance to a hospital.

Eze has a conviction in Manchester Superior Court for reckless driving and three pending cases in apparent connection to motor vehicle violations, according to court records. One case is also sealed by the court.

Other items that were seized from Eze’s Cadillac included three golf clubs, multiple kitchen knives, a folding knife, a Stanley band saw and a passport folder with a “shank-style knife,” police said.