DUBOIS – A DuBois man will stand trial for allegedly fighting with and assaulting police officers who found him trying to break into a DuBois residence.
Daniel Tejeda, 19, was charged with nine counts of aggravated assault, criminal trespass, six counts of simple assault, disorderly conduct, recklessly endangering another person, loitering and prowling at nighttime, resisting arrest, two counts of criminal mischief and three counts of harassment after an incident on April 1.
He waived his right to a preliminary hearing Friday during centralized court. His bail was set at $25,000, unsecured.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police were dispatched to a burglary in process at a home on East DuBois Avenue at 12:51 a.m.
The victims said they were awakened by someone pounding on their door. When one of the residents went downstairs, they saw a man violently hitting and kicking the door that claimed he was bleeding and needed help.
The resident told the man he would not open the door, but he would call police for help. This seemed to agitate the man who tried even harder to gain entry to the residence. Both victims said they were in fear for their safety and one of them grabbed a kitchen knife for protection.
The first officer on scene said a man was screaming, saying he was “going to get a gun” as he rammed the back inside door with his body. The suspect, later identified as Tejeda, tried to punch the officer who suffered a small laceration on his right leg along with swelling to his shin.
When two additional officers arrived, the first officer had Tejeda at Taser point, according to the complaint. A second officer raised his firearm to cover the first officer. They ordered Tejeda to the ground several times without compliance. Finally the suspect started to kneel on the ground but when the first officer grabbed the suspect, he immediately resisted by pulling away.
Again the officers attempted to take him to the ground. He would not comply with their orders to put his hands behind his back and instead kept pulling his arms away, police said. Tejeda started biting the third officer who yelled for him to stop.
When Tejeda did not stop, the third officer kicked him in the torso. This didn’t stop Tejeda. The first officer then deployed his Taser. This seemed to only affect Tejeda briefly before he resumed resisting.
After a while the second officer put his arm around Tejeda’s neck and squeezed it in an attempt to gain control of him. This worked and he was finally handcuffed.
At this point three additional officers arrived to assist. Tejeda continued to fight and kick at all of them. Eventually they were able to apply shackles to his legs and attach them to the handcuffs which stopped him from kicking.
The first officer told investigators that Tejeda grabbed his duty weapon as they struggled. His radio holder was destroyed as Tejeda allegedly ripped it off his belt while they fought.
The second officer suffered some bruising and scuff marks on his knees. The third officer sustained a laceration to the right side of his face, a bite mark on his left foot and some bruising to his fingers.
