Man charges at police with baseball bat

A man was arrested after charging at two officers with a baseball bat early Saturday morning. Michael A. Bernal, 29, was booked into Spokane County Jail on two counts of second-degree assault, police said. Officers James Erickson and James Christensen responded to the E. 200 block of Crown at 1:57 a.m. for a 911 hang-up call. A dispatcher had called back and a female told the dispatcher she could not speak freely. As officers arrived at the scene they could hear a male and female yelling at each other loudly. When they knocked on the door, Bernal allegedly “whipped the door open, armed himself with a baseball bat and then swung it at the officers, almost hitting them both,” police said. Police said he refused to comply with their orders to drop the bat. As he charged at officers with the bat, the female, who police did not identify, grabbed him around the waist. Police said he then threw the bat at the officers, broke free from the female and yelled “Bring it on!” All three ended up on the ground when they tried to arrest him. During the struggle, police said Bernal grabbed one of their flashlights in “another apparent attempt to assault the officers.” Officers determined there was no crime committed between the male and female.