A foot chase down a dark alley. A struggle. Officers hurt and a suspect in custody.

The Langley Police Department got a bit more action than usual in the small and usually quiet Village by the Sea on Saturday night when officers stopped a 23-year-old Langley man on a rampage after Choochokam.

“I am not used to this kind of stuff,” said Bob Herzberg, Langley’s veteran police chief.

The incident happened at roughly

10 p.m. in downtown Langley. The entertainment at the arts festival had stopped and the crowd was going home.

But while Langley Police Officer Corey Milf was talking to someone near the festival’s main gathering area, he noticed a man in the alley behind the Moonraker Bookstore kicking down extensions that marked areas for the festival.

Milf told the man to stop, but the man continued.

That’s when the man took off running and Milf chased him down the alley towards Anthes Avenue, Herzberg said. Other officers in the area were called to help.

As Milf turned the corner, the man waited for him and attacked him. A brawl ensued on Anthes Avenue as the officer struggled with the man.

“At some point, Corey got him under some verbal control,” Herzberg said.

But the man broke loose again from the officer’s grip.

“He was extremely agitated,” Herzberg said. “He shouted death threats. ‘I’m gonna kill you all.’ He threatened the officers repeatedly.”

At some point he injured Officer Dave Marks, who had rushed to the scene to back-up Milf.

“He stuck his thumbs into his eyes,” Herzberg said.

It took two Langley officers and two Island County Sheriff’s deputies to gain control of the man.

Once he was arrested, officers found that the man carried two large pocket knives and a bayonet in his backpack.

Herzberg said that the man, whose name Herzberg has not yet released, was intoxicated during the incident.

The man was taken to Coupeville and booked into Island County Jail on two counts of assault in the third degree and one count of malicious mischief in the third degree. He was later released.

His erratic behavior continued during his arrest. Herzberg said the man hit his head against the wall at the jail repeatedly.

Herzberg said his officers did the right thing given the man’s violent outburst.

“Our officers acted appropriately,” he said.

Marks’ injuries were reason enough to see a doctor Monday but he was cleared to return to duty, Herzberg said.