A 24-year-old Tacoma man fought with two police officers Monday night while struggling to keep from being taken for a mental health evaluation, officials said Tuesday.
Police were called to the man’s family home in the 2300 block of Browns Point Boulevard about 10:30 p.m. after he told dispatchers his parents had touched him inappropriately.
When officers arrived, they found the parents deadbolted inside their bedroom.
They told police they’d locked themselves inside because their son, who reportedly suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, was banging against their door and threatening to kill them if they didn’t give him a cigarette.
After telling police he was going to see a mental health professional, he allegedly grabbed one officer and dragged him to the front yard, punching and jabbing as they went.
A stun gun malfunctioned, and the officer was unable to free himself.
Eventually, the second officer was able to stun the man with another weapon.
While police struggled to control the man, he bit one of the officers on the arm and continued to try to punch them.
Officers were told there was no room at a secure mental facility for a violent offender, so the man was booked at the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault, third-degree assault and two counts of felony harassment-domestic violence.
The officer the man assaulted sought treatment at a local hospital and was cleared to return to work.
Stacia Glenn: 253-597-8653stacia.glenn@thenewstribune.com
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