Berkeley Police Department released a Nixle alert Sunday evening telling residents to stay away from Parker Street between Dana and Ellsworth streets because of “police activity.”

As previously reported by Berkeleyside, police were attempting to arrest a suspect of a felony, who was reportedly inside a house.

According to another alert sent out by BPD later Sunday night, the police department was planning on using “diversionary devices which are loud but should not be confused with gun fire.”

On May 19 at 5:50 p.m., officers responded to the 2300 block of Parker Street on a report that there was a man waving around a sickle (a farming tool for cutting). When they arrived, officers learned that the man had attacked the homeowner and his friend inside the residence. The homeowner and his friend were able to escape the building and called for help.

According to an email from BPD spokesperson Officer Byron White, during the attack, the suspect had cut the homeowner’s friend, a 70-year-old Oakland man, with a sickle. The victim was taken to a local hospital with hand and leg injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.

Patrol officers established a perimeter around the residence and used a speaker to call for the suspect to come outside of the residence, but he would not, according to the alert. The department’s Special Response Team responded to the scene along with department negotiators as well as a K-9 unit from the San Leandro Police Department.

According to the email from White, at about 2 a.m. Monday, the Special Response Team entered the residence and found the suspect in one of the upper levels; during the arrest, the officers used less-lethal projectiles to gain the suspect’s compliance.

The suspect was identified as 40-year-old Berkeley man Nathan Hohmann, who was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and felony battery, according to the email. The suspect was taken to a local hospital for medical evaluation.