Naked trucker threatens police with machete in Costco lot, cops say

A naked Bay Shore man wielding a 20-inch machete in a Costco parking lot was charged Monday after threatening bystanders and a cop with the weapon, Suffolk police said.

Jose Amaya, 37, of 1060 Joselson Ave., was arrested at a Nesconset Costco and charged with menacing a police officer, criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a weapon, Suffolk police said.

Several witnesses had reported a naked man was waving a machete at people in the parking lot at 3000 Middle Country Rd. around 1:05 p.m., police said.

Police found Amaya barricaded inside the cab of a 2007 Freightliner tractor trailer he operated as a driver for an East Orange, New Jersey, company.

Amaya refused to come out of the vehicle, which housed clothes and a microwave, said Sgt. Brian Michels, who responded, along with officers Richard Regula, Christopher Tenbrink, Anthony Sepe, Jean Hutchinson and Sgt. Keith Serper.

When Amaya tried to get out with the machete, the officers held the doors to the cab to contain him, Michels said. Amaya then tried to leave the truck through a small window, threatening the officers with the machete.

Four of the officers then deployed Tasers, Michels said. But it was unclear whether they made contact with the suspect. The officers then entered the cab, subdued Amaya and took him into custody, he said.

Police found cocaine in the cab, Michels said. There were no injuries, he said.

"They were there, pressed up against the door where they couldn't see inside, not knowing what weapons he had besides the machete and what he was doing inside" the cab, Michels said.

"Instead of using more extreme measures, which would have been safer for themselves, they did a very dangerous extrication by getting up-close to a man with a machete," he said.

Amaya was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital to be evaluated. He is scheduled to be arraigned in First District Court in Central Islip Tuesday.

CORRECTION: The community where the Costco parking lot is located was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.