Monday, May 9, 2011
Domestic Violence Suspect Arrested For Assaulting Two Police Officers
A man who allegedly pushed his way inside a Lawrenceburg home overnight Friday was arrested on numerous charges, including two counts of assault of a police officer.
Reports filed through the Lawrenceburg Police Department show that Jose Antonio Lopez, 22, was arrested in the early hours Saturday and booked through the Lawrence County Detention Center.
Officers were dispatched to a Roberts Avenue home around 1:30 a.m. in connection with a domestic assault. When they walked up to the door, officers report they could hear a woman yelling “get off me.” They entered the home and report the resident stepped out of the back bedroom. She was reportedly crying and told officers she had been assaulted by her ex-boyfriend.
The victim said that her assailant was hiding in the bedroom closet. Officers report they retrieved Lopez from the closet, placed him under arrest and handcuffed him at which time he became combative.
Reports show that Lopez first became verbally aggressive toward officers. While he was being escorted to a patrol car, Lopez allegedly jerked away and ran. Officers caught up to him and “took him to the ground.” They report that Lopez struggled with them repeatedly. When they brought him to his feet, he would again fight in an effort to free himself.
In order to get him into a patrol car, reports show officers sprayed Lopez with an immobilizing spray. Once the spray had been administered, reports show Lopez was placed in a prone position on the car trunk. He reportedly continued to struggle, turned, and kicked one officer in the groin area.
Inside the booking room of the jail, reports show that Lopez again became violent. Officers subdued him by “taking him to the floor.” Reports show that Lopez had blood and saliva in his mouth when brought upright and spat in one officer’s face. He was subsequently placed in a restraint chair in the holding tank.
The victim told officers she had thought a friend was at the door and when she opened it, Lopez pushed his way inside, uninvited. She said that she tried to get to her telephone, but that Lopez began to choke her and pushed her into a wall. During the struggle she was able to retrieve her phone and place a 911 call.
Officers noted the victim had red marks about her neck, and that there was a whole in the drywall “the size of (the victim’s) back.”
Lopez was booked under charges of aggravated burglary, vandalism, aggravated domestic assault, evading arrest, possession of Schedule IV drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia, and two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer. In addition, reports indicate he was served several outstanding warrants while incarcerated. He was jailed under a bond of $20,000.
Lopez is scheduled for an initial appearance in Lawrence County General Sessions Court on June 3, 2011.
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