By Violent man who ran through Grimsby streets with a machete jailed
A man who ran through a Grimsby street armed with a machete causing fear has been jailed.
Marius Chitu admitted to possession of a machete and a large quantity of Class A drugs after police went on a manhunt for him.
An alarm was raised at the Lifestyle Express shop on Pasture Street around 1.30 pm on Sunday, May 2 2021 when Chitu was seen with a blade.
Sentencing him to 12 months in prison for possession of a blade, the judge said that the “want-to-be gangster” had no previous convictions, adding that he had gone from “zero to one hundred.”
Chitu, 19, of Welholme Road, Grimsby admitted possession of a blade in public and possession of crack cocaine with a street value of £450 which he claimed was for his own use.
Chitu also admitted failing to attend court at a previous hearing after fleeing to Ireland and later to Wales. He was arrested five months after he was supposed to surrender to his bail and attend court.
The court heard how police were called by members of the public at Lifestyle Express on Pasture Street with reports of a man running in the street with a machete.
CCTV showed a man with light grey jogging trousers running from the area with a machete in his right hand.
The court saw how the footage recorded several people going in to and out of the shop while a group of men gathered around a car on the opposite side of Pasture Street.
A description of the armed man was circulated to police officers in the area.
Two officers from Humberside Police spotted Chitu running towards Ladysmith Road when one of the officers drew his taser and threatened to fire it.
Chitu laid down and surrendered as police discovered the machete down a leg of his tracksuit bottoms where they also found two mobile phones, a grinder, and crack cocaine.
