Oregon man held after Star Wars light saber attack at Toys R Us

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

With pepper sprayings of shoppers at Wal-Mart and shots fired in retail parking lots on Black Friday, would anyone have lifted an eyebrow to see a man running amok with a Star Wars light saber in an Oregon Toys R Us?

The incident occurred shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday, Portland police said in a report, when a man wielding a toy light saber of the kind favored by the Rebel Alliance began swinging it at fellow customers. He had assaulted at least three people before moving into the parking lot -- as customers grabbed their cellphones and called police.

‘Officers arrived and attempted to take the suspect into custody, but he continued to swing the light saber and was yelling incoherent statements,’ officers said in their report. One officer was able to hit the man with his Taser, but the suspect then broke the Taser wire with his light saber -- at which point officers grabbed him and wrestled him to the ground.

The man, identified as David Canterbury, 33, of Hillsboro, was cited for assault, disorderly conduct, theft, resisting arrest and interfering with a police officer -- but all enforcement is on hold while he is given a hospital mental health evaluation.

The story has been making the rounds in Oregon, meanwhile, with commentators on the Oregonian newspaper’s website sparing no chance to weigh in.

‘Unless Toys R Us has significantly upgraded its stock, this wasn’t a light saber per se. Rather, it was an elongated piece of hollow plastic illuminated by a blue light,’ one suggested.

‘You’re right,’ another responded, ‘as opposed to all the real light sabers available at Jedi-supply stores around town.’

-- Kim Murphy in Seattle