No Retreat: The defendant in this case had been evicted from a residence on W. Columbus Avenue three months ago. Since the eviction, the man had been spotted peering through the windows at the new female occupant of the home, with neighbors reportedly "seeing him watch her and masturbating in the recent past." On the night of this incident, the man showed up at the home, climbed a tree and got up on the roof before breaking in through a second-story window. The victim saw the perv busting in and called police. When the cops showed up, the woman ran from the house, while one officer entered the home from the front and the other waited under an open window. The defendant heard the police coming and tried to flee through the window but encountered the waiting officer. Rather than jump into the arms of the law, the suspect turned and ran to the stairs — and into the other cop.
No Surrender: An officer investigating a domestic disturbance encountered the agitated suspect as he was "smashing out the windows of his car." The officer attempted to restrain the man, who had "already cut up his arms and legs," but she was only able to slap on one cuff before the man pulled away from her and whipped out a hunting knife. The officer ordered the man to drop the knife; he decided instead to "charge at [the officer] telling her he was going to mess her up." Wrong. The officer hit the man with a jolt from the Taser, dropping him to the ground. This guy wouldn't quit trying to get back up, however, and the officer had to juice him "a couple of times" before taking him into custody.
No Idea: Two men were arrested after attempting to break into the Lucky Nails on W. Waters Avenue. While a nail salon might not seem like the juiciest of targets, at least one of the suspects was an old pro just released from jail in Miami in February on "similar charges," so what do I know? The ensuing chase involved both helicopters with infrared systems and K-9 units (guess which one captured a suspect in its snarling jaws?), and the impressive list of charges included "2 counts burglary, possession of burglary tools, wearing a mask during the commission of a felony, resisting arrest without violence, and unlawful use of two-way communications." Talk about getting nailed.
From the files of the T.P.D.
This article appears in May 16-22, 2007.
