Pa. man high on bath salts attacks neighbor’s closet with a samurai sword

A Monroe County man high on bath salts forced his way into his neighbor’s home Friday, barricaded himself inside a child’s playroom and attacked the closet with a samurai sword, WFMZ-TV reported yesterday.

Bradford Cole of Effort, Pa. reportedly began hallucinating that people were attacking and shooting at him after ingesting the drugs. He ran to the house on Lakeside Drive in Chestnuthill Township claiming he was being chased.

Cole allegedly destroyed the playroom before stabbing through the closet, according to the report. State police said he was uncooperative and had to be tased before officers could arrest him. Cole was eventually taken to Monroe County Correctional Facility.

Police found bath salts in both of his pockets, according to the report. The over-the-counter drug whose effects mimic those of hallucinogens and amphetamines have already been linked to several strange crimes, such as that of a West Pittston, Pa. couple who nearly injured their five-year-old child while trying to stab interlopers they believed were living inside their walls.

The designer drug was outlawed in Pennsylvania last summer along with other gray market substitutes such as synthetic marijuana.