Pierce County man tried to stab deputy attempting warrantless arrest, prosecutors say
Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a man accused of beating someone with a piece of rebar and trying to stab responding officers Saturday, but prosecutors noted the chaotic incident might have started with a questionable search.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Claire Vitikainen filed a memo Tuesday stating that despite questions about the legality of the arrest, the suspect, 40-year-old Jeremiah Lee Connors, was not within his rights to use force against deputies because he faced the loss of his freedom and not a risk of injury.
Connors faces an attempted second-degree murder charge and three counts of felony assault on suspicion he beat a man with rebar during a fight and tried to stab Deputy Ernest Cedillo during his arrest. He’s being jailed in lieu of $350,000 bail while awaiting trial.
The prosecutor’s memo said deputies did not have a warrant signed by a judge before they detained Connors.
Cedillo reported he cut a piece of paracord securing Connors’ trailer door as a part of a ruse to get him to come outside. He hyperextended his arm after grabbing the suspect in the doorway. A sheriff’s department crime blotter post said a deputy injured his shoulder.
Charging documents, police reports and dispatch records give the following account of the incident:
The incident started as fight between Connors and an employee at a commercial property southeast of Puyallup near McMillin around 1:45 p.m.
Connors, the nephew of the owner of RC Custom Concrete, was living in a travel trailer nearby and confronted the employee about kicking him out of the business’s shop area for repeatedly accusing workers of stealing his food from the shop refrigerator.
The victim said Connors later puffed out his chest and started swinging at him after he told Connors to walk away. He said Connors grabbed a piece of rebar about 4 feet long after Connors put him in a headlock and he pulled Connors out of the shop by his legs.
Connors hit the victim in the head, shoulders and face multiple times with the rebar. The victim pinned him to the ground while being struck and another employee dragged Connors away from the pile of rebar.
Connors retreated to his trailer after dropping the rebar. One of the employees called 911.
Deputies were dispatched at about 2 p.m. and Cedillo arrived around 2:30 p.m. after the other responding deputy established probable cause to arrest Connors for felony assault.
Police reports do not show an initial report of a weapon other than the rebar. Witnesses at the scene told deputies that police previously confiscated Connors’ firearm.
Cedillo wrote in his report that Connors’ trailer door was secured with a piece of paracord. Connors told the deputies to come back with a warrant when they knocked and asked him to come out.
In an attempt to get Connors to come out, Cedillo cut the paracord attached to the door but it stayed shut. Connors then pushed the door open and yelled at the deputies to come back with a warrant.
As Connors’ head crossed the threshold of the door to yell at deputies, Cedillo grabbed his shirt with both hands and Connors pushed Cedillo away. Cedillo wrote he immediately felt pain from hyperextending his arm and then Connors punched him in the chest, loosening his body-worn camera.
Cedillo said Connors retreated back into the trailer. The deputy struggled with Connors as he refused to come outside.
Connors then grabbed an approximately 4-inch buck knife and made a stabbing motion towards Cedillo. The scuffle knocked Cedillo’s body-worn camera onto the bed.
Cedillo blocked Connors’ hand as he allegedly thrust the knife toward Cedillo’s neck and pushed Connors onto the bed, pinning Connors’ hand with the knife.
The other responding deputy drew his firearm after Cedillo called out the knife. The deputy said he’d shoot if Connors didn’t drop the knife but the deputy wrote he didn’t have space to safely fire.
Connors repeatedly said “shoot me” and dropped the knife after Cedillo punched him in the face several times.
Cedillo drew his gun after the knife fell behind the bed and Connors appeared to start following commands to exit the trailer.
Suddenly, Connors lunged back toward the bed and Cedillo thought he was looking for the knife. At one point Connors picked up the fallen body camera.
Connors didn’t respond to his commands to come outside and Cedillo fired his Taser. Connors’ body locked up and he fell onto the bed after Cedillo followed the initial Taser shot with a direct stun to Connors’ body.
The “drive-stun” option is designed for pain compliance, not incapacitation like prongs fired from a distance, according to Taser manufacturer Axon.
The other responding deputy wrote he used the “drive-stun” mode on Connors’ leg to no effect while Cedillo was on top of Connors. Cedillo then threw the knife from the bed toward the other deputy.
The other deputy, thinking his Taser wasn’t active, grabbed Connors’ ankle and accidentally shocked himself and Cedillo.
Cedillo also used the “drive-stun” mode on Connors again at some point when he resisted putting his hands behind his back. The other responding deputy then handcuffed Connors.
The News Tribune has requested body-worn camera footage from the incident and a use of force report from the sheriff’s office.
