RPD safely de-escalate mental health call on Parsells Ave

Stephanie Duprey

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — Rochester police said they safely de-escalated a situation after responding to a mental health call near Parsells Avenue and Stout Street Saturday night.

Police say they tased a woman after she attacked officers with a large knife. When arriving at the scene at around 9 p.m., officers tried to talk her down. When that didn’t work, they had to use a taser and a bean bag gun.

She was then safely put into an ambulance. Leaders within the Rochester Police Department applauded their team.

"Restraint is the theme here, which is amazing in a super stressful situation. They did a great job making sure that not only she was safe — but the responding officers and onlookers were safe as well," said Commander Jeff Lafave.

No one was hurt during the interaction, which took about an hour to de-escalate. An ambulance took the woman to the hospital for evaluation and she is in custody under a mental hygiene law.

RPD said that the investigation is ongoing and the woman may be charged with menacing a police officer. Parsells Avenue has re-oped to traffic.