Cops bust man with sword after motel standoff

NEWPORT, Maine (AP) — A man armed with a sword held off police for several hours at a Maine hotel, authorities said.

Police responded to Pray's Motel in Newport on Thursday after Louis Irish, 60, threatened a housekeeper and the motel owner with a knife.

Police said the highly intoxicated man pulled out a sword when officers knocked on his room door.

Officers backed off, secured the scene and then entered the room only after failed attempts to get him to surrender, Newport Police Chief Leonard Macdaid said.

Irish was hospitalized for evaluation and later taken to Penobscot County Jail. It is unclear if the knife motel staff saw was the sword Irish brandished to police.

He appeared in court Friday. Irish could not be reached for comment.