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Family visiting Pittsburgh said man threatened them with machete at South Side hotel

Man accused of threatening family with machete
Man accused of threatening family with machete 02:55

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — What was supposed to be an unforgettable visit to Pittsburgh ended up being a visit one family would like to forget.

"It was terrible," Sandy Scott said. "It broke my heart because I was so tickled. I haven't been up here in 20 years."

Sandy and Michelle Scott said their six-person family checked in to the Holiday Inn Express on 10th Street on the city's South Side on Wednesday evening.

As they were getting onto the elevator to settle into their room, they said a man was coming off the elevator.

"He was eerie," Michelle Scott said. "He had a smile on his face and was just a very wicked, mean, evil look on his face."

The man Michelle Scott described was later identified as Daniel Hersey. The Scotts said on Hersey's hip was a machete. The criminal complaint further described the weapon as a large, survival-style knife with a serrated blade.

The family said at one point, Hersey pulled the knife out and told the young children with the family that they "needed to learn some manners."

"I was terrified," Michelle Scott said. "Nothing he was saying mattered. It was just a matter of getting them out of there. My little ones, they were terrified."

The family said the elevator door shut before Hersey was able to get any closer.

"If he would have gotten onto that elevator, with that knife, he could have done a whole lot to us," Michelle Scott said.

Even before encountering the Scott family, Hersey, according to the complaint, threatened a hotel employee by displaying the knife and saying, "A lot of people get killed on the South Side. I'm going to find out where your car is."

Sandy Scott said the whole ordeal scared them to death and "thanked God" they weren't hurt.

Hersey's alleged actions didn't end at the Holiday Inn Express. Police were later called to Jack's Bar on East Carson Street, where, according to the police paperwork, Hersey punched out the bar's front window. Plywood was still covering the window as of Thursday afternoon.

Hersey was taken to the Allegheny County Jail. Court documents showed he faces a total of 22 counts, including terroristic threats and weapons and drug possession charges.

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