FARMINGTON – After tasing him twice, Farmington police were able to apprehend a man who was allegedly yelling, acting belligerently and threatening to stab residents at an apartment.
Police responded to a call Wednesday at an apartment complex on Apache Street, where the reporting party said the man, later identified as Armondo Alden Antonio, was yelling outside the apartment complex threatening to stab people, according to a police report.
When police tried to make contact with Antonio, he started to sprint at the officer. The officer pulled out his Taser and told Antonio to stop three times and warned that if he did not he would be tased.
As Antonio approached, the officer said he noticed dried blood around his mouth and the appearance that he’d been battered, the report said.
Antonio continued to walk toward the officer and showed signs of aggression and hostility, the report said. The officer then pulled the trigger on his Taser, which sent two probes into Antonio’s waist.
“Mr. Antonio grunted and slightly bent at the waist for a second before standing straight up again,” the officer wrote in the narrative of the report. “He started swiping at the wires attached to the probes and it appeared he interrupted the connection. The Taser was ineffective.”
When Antonio began walking away, the officer told him to stop and warned that if he did not, he would get tased again, according to the narrative of the report.
“I felt it was unsafe to go hands on with him,” the narrative said. “I pulled the trigger on my Taser again and it did not affect him at all.”
At that point, another officer arrived and pulled out his Taser as the original officer pulled out his pepper spray. According to the report, the officers told him to get down on the ground, and Antonio replied telling the cops that their actions were “unconstitutional.”
After deliberation, the two officers decided to put their equipment away and use a hands-on technique to apprehend Antonio and take him into custody.
Officers said he was taken into custody “without further incident,” despite his refusing to walk.
After interviewing witnesses, police were told by Antonio’s girlfriend, who police did not identify, that his wounds to his mouth were “self-inflicted because he was being drunk and crazy,” according to the police report narrative.
Antonio was transported to the San Juan County Detention Center where he was booked on assault of a peace officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and concealing his identification.
mmitchell@durangoherald.com