Police: Schenectady man charged in hammer attack screamed 'kill me'

PHOTOGRAPHER: Schenectady Police Department

Mahadeo Beharry

The man accused in a Tuesday evening hammer attack on an individual and ambulance building also charged at an officer with a knife, police say.

The man, who officers took into custody without injury, soon after held his hands in the air and screamed at officers “kill me,” according to court paperwork.

An official with Mohawk Ambulance also described the scene there, telling of an unintelligible suspect with a hammer in one hand and knife in the other showing up at a locked door at its State Street location. Employees retreated to a closed-off part of the building before the man broke his way in and then left to seemingly wait for police to arrive. Ambulance dispatches continued throughout.

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‘Officers used great restraint. It’s obviously a situation where deadly physical force could have been used.’

— Schenectady Police spokesman Lt. Mark McCracken

The ambulance incident and confrontation with police all happened after the suspect, identified as 41-year-old Mahadeo Beharry, of Summit Avenue, used a claw hammer to attack a man inside a second-floor apartment at 15 Grove Place.

Paramedics from Mohawk Ambulance took the victim to Ellis Hospital for treatment. Police reported the victim in stable condition on Wednesday.

Police charged Beharry with multiple felonies, including first-degree assault for the alleged Grove Place hammer attack, burglary and criminal mischief related to the ambulance station and menacing a police officer for allegedly charging at the officer with an 8-inch steak knife.

Police spokesman Lt. Mark McCracken praised responding officers, noting the incident could have turned out much differently.

“Officers used great restraint,” McCracken said in a text message. “It’s obviously a situation where deadly physical force could have been used.”

The incident began shortly before 5 p.m. on Grove Place. Police said Beharry and another person police described as a friend got into an argument.

Beharry allegedly picked up a hammer and struck the resident repeatedly in the head, causing serious injuries. Police did not release the victim’s identity, but said he remained hospitalized. Firefighters treated the victim at the scene.

Soon after, Beharry showed up about two blocks from the Grove Place scene, at a locked door of Mohawk Ambulance, 793 State St., officials said.

There, an unintelligible Beharry got a manager to open the door, believing Beharry needed help, according to Daniel Gilmore, Mohawk director of operations. He cited employees and surveillance footage. He declined to share the footage.

The manager, though, soon spotted that Beharry had a knife in one hand and the hammer in the other. The manager also couldn’t understand what Beharry said.

The manager got the door shut and locked again and had employees retreat to a safe spot in the building. Soon after, Beharry smashed through the door window and began roaming the office area inside appearing distraught or troubled, police said.

The Mohawk dispatch, located in the back of the building, relayed information to police and continued to operate.

“In light of the stressful situation that developed very quickly I think they did very well,” Gilmore said of his office staff.

Beharry damaged a counter and filing cabinet and went outside, Gilmore said.

Outside, a city police officer arrived in a patrol car. Beharry threw the hammer at the patrol car, police said.

He then charged at an officer with the knife, dropped the knife at some point and walked toward officers “with his hands up screaming and yelling ‘kill me,’ ” according to court paperwork.

Officers forced him to the ground and took him into custody.

Beharry appeared in Schenectady City Court Wednesday morning and the judge ordered him held without bail. An attorney listed for him could not be reached.

A woman who answered the door at Beharry’s residence Wednesday said the family is still trying to figure out what happened, but referred further comment to another family member who could not be reached.

Beharry has at least two prior alcohol related convictions, a felony drunk driving conviction from Rotterdam in 2010 and a misdemeanor drunk driving conviction from Clifton Park in 2006, records show.