A man is alleged to have pulled a knife on a female Wanganui Chronicle staff member today.
The staff member, who did not want to be named, said she had returned from lunch but chose to wait in her car while a man in a hoodie picked up cigarette butts in the St Hill St carpark.
"I think I gave him a fright - he was very fixed on the cigarettes," the staff member said.
"He swung his backpack around and pulled out a large knife. He came up to the car window and said he was going to 'f***' stab me."
She said the knife was scary - about 30cm long with a serated edge and a black tip.
Terrified, she reached for her cellphone and called 111, at which point the offender ran off.
"He was gone when police arrived. I think the phone scared him off."
About an hour later she saw a man she believed was the offender walk past the building, and called police again.
Police later stopped a man outside the RSA in St Hill St. He was handcuffed and taken away in a police patrol car.
Police have confirmed a 39-year-old male was arrested earlier today.
He would be charged with possessing an offensive weapon and summonsed to appear in court, police said.