ALBUQUERQUE — An Albuquerque police officer found himself in a dangerous situation on Sunday when his Taser possibly malfunctioned during an attempt to arrest a violent, mentally disturbed man. The officer ended up getting shocked himself during the incident.
According to a criminal complaint, the officer was responding to a report that a man was standing in the middle of the road yelling at vehicles in a neighborhood near San Mateo and Candelaria NE. A 911 caller said the man had also come to his front door and tried to kick it in.
The complaint states when the officer arrived, the suspect, 33-year-old Jesus Gomez, was standing under the carport of another house screaming and "flailing his arms wildly."
As the officer approached, the complaint reads, Gomez started running toward him and screamed, "Tase me!"
The officer commanded Gomez to stop and get on the ground, but Gomez kept coming, so the officer tried to fire his Taser, which uses electrified darts to immobilize a person. But the Taser didn't fire, and Gomez got within striking distance of the officer.
At the last second, the officer got the Taser to work, but the wires ended up draping over his arm, and he lost his grip on it.
Gomez then grabbed the Taser and the officer began to fight with him to get it back.
The complaint said Gomez continued to scream unintelligibly and would not let go of the Taser.
The officer than sprayed Gomez in the face with Mace, but Gomez continued to fight and managed to fire the Taser at the officer, shocking both of them.
The officer got an arm around Gomez's neck, but then Gomez bit the officer.
A person on the scene stepped in and helped the officer subdue Gomez until more police arrived.
The officer was taken to the hospital and released.
Gomez was taken to the emergency room for a mental health evaluation. He was restrained, and the complaint said he kept calling another APD officer who was taking pictures of him "President Obama."
Gomez on Monday was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center, which can provide mental health services. As of Tuesday evening, he remained in jail custody in lieu of a $30,000 cash or surety bond.
He is charged with two counts of aggravated battery on a police officer.
Albuquerque Police Department Sgt. Patrick Ficke said it is extremely unusual for a Taser not to deploy correctly. He said usually if a Taser doesn't work, it's because the prongs hit a piece of thick clothing, a belt buckle or some other obstruction.
Police are also looking into the possibility that the Taser was not armed correctly.
