Man arrested after Millwood assault
Deputies barricaded a Millwood neighborhood Sunday afternoon after one brother allegedly stabbed another with a large hunting knife and officers were unable to establish communication with the suspect inside his home.
After surrounding the house for more than four hours, deputies arrested Joe Oka, 26, as he was walking along Buckeye Avenue just blocks from his house at 8923 E. Grace.
An onlooker recognized Oka and pointed him out to sheriff’s deputy Mike Beckman, who arrested him.
According to the victim’s report, the two adult brothers were home alone. Joe Oka came down from a bedroom shortly after noon and began slashing his brother with a knife, said Spokane County sheriff’s spokesman Dave Reagan.
The stabbing was unprovoked, said sheriff’s Sgt. David Fray.
The injured man, Jay Oka, 21, escaped and ran to a neighbor’s home, where paramedics and the Sheriff’s Office were called at 12:38 p.m.
Jay Oka was treated and released at Deaconess Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said.
The two men’s parents also live in the house but weren’t home at the time of the stabbing.
Sheriff’s deputies believed Joe Oka was still inside because neighbors had not seen him leave.
“There’s some mental problem with our suspect, so that compounds the problem,” Fray said as deputies waited outside for any communication from Oka.
Law enforcement officers were familiar with the home and family because of previous encounters, said Reagan, who refused to elaborate.
A red truck and a red sedan were parked outside the small yellow home.
Periodic shouts from deputies failed to get any response, and at about 4 p.m., the SWAT team arrived.
“Time is on their side,” Reagan said of the SWAT team. He added that it is to the team’s advantage to tire out suspects. “They’re going to go in very quickly, overwhelm the suspect and take him into custody very quickly,” he said of the SWAT plan.
Despite the police blockades, curious onlookers, including friends and old West Valley schoolmates, parked at vantage points across Millwood Elementary School’s play field to watch the drama.
One of those onlookers recognized Joe Oka walking along Buckeye.
According to a news release, Oka refused to put his hands in the air when ordered by deputies. He appeared to be “out of it,” deputies said.
Deputies found a 10- to 12-inch knife in a sheath in Oka’s pocket once they had wrestled him to the ground.
He told them he had been walking around town since the assault.