SEQUIM, Wash. — A Sequim man is under arrest for allegedly trying to run over a group of children with his car and threatening them with an axe.
In a separate incident that same day, police said John Barcellos, 59, tried to run a group of teens off the road.
Police said it all started with three teens driving home from school when a man started tailgating them. The teens pulled over to let him pass and he pulled behind them.
This happened several more times, the driver allegedly attempting to sideswipe the teens twice before pulling in front of them and backing into their car.
"I don't know if he had planned to assault kids that day, but he was on a mission to have some sort of interaction with juveniles," said Shaun Minks, deputy with the Clallam County Sheriff's Office.
Police said that the mission continued about five hours and five miles away.
A group of children were playing in a Sequim church parking lot when the same man drove straight at them. The kids had to hide behind a light pole.
The kids told police he stopped less than a foot away from them, and he was not done yet.
"He started saying phrases like, 'You don't want to mess with me. I'll bash your heads in with an axe,'" Minks said. "Then he shows them an axe."
Investigators said Barcellos led police on a two-mile chase where he ended up crashing into a cornfield.
Police arrested Barcellos for assault and harassment.
Sheriff's department records show after being taken into custody Barcellos told the deputy, "I have something to live for. I'm going after your wife, kids and you."
"That whole day is really chilling," Minks said.
Perhaps most chilling -- on the bottom of Barcellos' bail form -- instead of a signature he apparently scrawled "Help Me."
As he sits in his jail cell, deputies are hopeful he gets the help he asked for.
"Had we not gotten there quickly, who knows where he would have gone or what he would have done with those kids," says Minks.
Charges have been filed against Barcellos. He remains in custody on $50,000 bail. His arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 29.