DAVENPORT, Fla. (WFLA) — A man repeatedly tased while resisting police during a battery call was unaffected and could fight back, according to an affidavit.
On Tuesday, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to a Davenport home at around 9:37 p.m. after two roommates got into an altercation over a dog.
A female roommate told officials that she found one of her roommates, Jonathan Almendarez, putting another male roommate in a chokehold in the kitchen.
The victim was reportedly choking, throwing his hands up in the air, and unable to breathe.
‘Deeply troubling’: Teen found with 2 loaded guns at Blake High School in Tampa, police say According to the report, the victim told officials he was attacked by Almendarez, who allegedly threw a punch at him before he elbowed and bit Almendarez in an act of defense. He then claimed he was dragged on the ground and put in a chokehold before law enforcement arrived. Almendarez, however, claimed the victim threw a punch at him.
The affidavit said that she, and a third male roommate, tried to pull Almendarez off the victim. That’s when the woman bit Almendarez on the back because their attempts to separate the two were unsuccessful.
When the two men were eventually separated, Almendarez chased the victim into a bedroom. After the woman screamed, Almendarez raised his hand, presumably to hit her, and that’s when she threw a glass bong in his direction, shattering on the ground behind him.
As officials were attempting to handcuff Almendarez, he began resisting, despite verbal commands to stop. He kicked one of the deputies in the chest.
Activists convicted of working with Russian government to interfere with St. Pete elections The deputies then used a taster to Almendarez’s abdomen and a baton to his legs, both having no effect on him, as he continued to fight back. That’s when another taser was fired into his chest, but he ran off into a bedroom, with the prongs still attached.
The report said another attempt to taser the suspect in the chest was unsuccessful, as he pulled the prongs off himself and grabbed ahold of the deputy’s baton, before also trying to take the taser. At one point during the resistance, Almendarez straddled the deputy and removed his radio microphone.
Almendarez was eventually handcuffed and was arrested on charges of battery by strangulation, depriving an officer of means of protection or communication, battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, aggravated assault on law enforcement, and simple assault.
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