BROOKSVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a Florida woman who they say tried to stab a deputy with a large sword or machete inside a mobile home filled with thousands of knives, swords and bladed instruments.
The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that deputies went to Nickole Dykema’s home Tuesday night to assist probation and parole officers who were trying to issue felony arrest warrants. Authorities say they fired several bean bag rounds at her after she tried to stab the deputy and refused to surrender.
CNN spoke to sheriff’s office spokeswoman Denise Moloney about the incident.
Each room in the trailer had at least 500 weapons, she said. Photos released by the sheriff’s department showed swords and knives arranged so densely as to create a wall of weapons. Investigators found no firearms.
Moloney didn’t know why Dykema had collected so many bladed weapons. “It looks like she had an obsession with them,” she said.
Moloney also told CNN that Dykema “‘booby trapped’ many of the bladed weapons, blankets, floors inside, and even the yard outside the residence.” She added that five deputies suffered cuts while removing the weapons from Dykema’s home, requiring them to seek medical treatment.
Authorities said she later armed herself with several weapons and advanced toward deputies. She was arrested nearly five hours later after authorities struck her with a stun gun.
Dykema faces multiple charges. Deputies said they removed more than 3,500 “bladed instruments” from the home.
TPM’s Allegra Kirkland contributed to this report.
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