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Brooke Walker ReportingA man went on a terrifying rampage this afternoon in a quiet Salt Lake neighborhood. Witnesses say Edwin Harris tore through houses near 500 N. Wall Street, smashed up cars and threatened both residents and police.
Ron Burgey, Witness: "He dove under my truck and started beating my truck on the sides with a bar that he had. He was bleeding pretty bad."
Once the suspect rolled clear of his path, Ron Burgey took off and called police. He paused to shout a warning to nearby resident Lin Warburton, who was on her way out the door. She couldn't believe what she saw coming straight toward her.
Lin Warburton, Witness: "Unbelievable. When someone comes at you with blood on their face, and you can tell they're insane, and they're just out to hurt somebody or something, it's pretty frightening."
She began to run away, but the suspect followed closely behind and barged right through her open back door. He ransacked the kitchen, where he picked up two knives. He used those knives to stab anything in sight, including walls, pillows and a couch.
The suspect then continued down the street, smashing car windows along the way.
A police officer arrived on scene and quickly called for back-up. That officer tried to taser the man, but failed. A second attempt hit the suspect and sent him to the ground. But when police tried to kick the knife out of his hand, they accidently knocked loose the taser bulb. Harris jumped up, and began to run away.
Finally, a third taser took him down and police were able to make the arrest.
Officer: "This man at any time could have done mortal harm to anyone in the area. Now he didn't, but he certainly showed the willingness and had the tools to do the job."
Police attribute the man's behavior to drugs. They say Harris told them he had a large amount of cocaine in his system at the time of the incident.