Man accused of threatening with machete to appear in court

A Costa Mesa man will appear in court at the Central Jail in Santa Ana on Tuesday morning for allegedly threatening someone with a machete in a parking lot at South Coast Plaza, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department website.

Officers are still investigating the Sunday night incident and have been unable to contact the alleged victim who called in the report at 8:59 p.m., Costa Mesa police said.

During a verbal confrontation, Robert Carl Hopkins, 19, produced a machete and threatened the person, Lt. Bryan Glass said. Hopkins then ran toward the South Coast Village Regency Theatres at 1561 W. Sunflower, which is across city limits in Santa Ana.

Within 10 minutes, officers detained Hopkins and recovered the machete inside the movie theater.

Hopkins was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, but charges could change pending the investigation, Glass said. The person who called 911 was not present when officers arrived on the scene.

Hopkins is being held at the Intake Release Center in Santa Ana on a $25,000 bail.

—Amber Gonzales