CEDAR CITY – A Cedar City man was arrested last week on multiple assault charges after he began assaulting people with a samurai sword during an altercation.

On Oct. 29, around 10 p.m., in the area of 1300 North and 600 West in Cedar City, police were called to an apartment complex where a noise complaint had turned into a fight, according to a probable cause statement filed by police in support of the arrest.

Officers arrived to find people yelling and bloodied.

The fight had originally started in one of the apartments and moved outside. When police arrived, a man ran back inside the apartment and locked the door.

The man was identified as 26-year-old Jason Tyler Wardle, who was living in the apartment with a woman and another man. It was determined by responding officers that Wardle had allegedly assaulted the woman and others during the altercation.

Prior to police arrival, Wardle was having an argument with the other man in the apartment and began hitting him when the woman intervened and tried to get him to stop fighting, the statement said. Wardle then went to the kitchen, returning with a 3-foot long samurai sword that he allegedly began swinging at the man.

The other man was hit in the shoulder by the sword and the woman cut a finger while trying to grab it, according to the statement. She was also elbowed in the face during the incident.

The fight transitioned outside as Wardle kept swinging the sword at the man. A neighbor tried to intervene, but she was kicked in the stomach by Wardle.

Officers arrived at this time and Wardle locked himself in the apartment. Once officers were able to get inside, Wardle “met this entry with violence,” the arresting officer wrote in the probable cause statement.

“He fought with officers to the utmost of his ability to do so, to include trying to bite and spit on officers,” according to the statement.

Wardle was placed in handcuffs yet still kicked at officers, resulting in his legs also being placed in restraints. At this point, he began to vomit and had to be placed on his side in order to avoid choking.

“He had the extremely strong odor of alcoholic beverage on his breath,” the report stated. “He had watery bloodshot eyes and extremely slurred speech. It was very difficult for him to even form a complete sentence.”

Wardle began trying to bite at and spit on officers, resulting in a spit sock being placed over his head, the statement said. He shouted loud profanities as he was taken to Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City for medical clearance, where he continued to swear at medical staff.

Wardle was booked into the Iron County Jail with bail set at $60,000. He was charged with two third-degree felonies for aggravated assault and eight misdemeanors for assault related to domestic violence, interfering with an arresting officer, assaulting an officer, intoxication and disorderly conduct.

A preliminary hearing for Wardle’s case has been set for Nov. 18.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

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