Man accused of assaulting police officer during fight near Glendale Walmart | Crime Files
PHOENIX - Court documents reveal a man is accused of multiple criminal offenses in connection with an incident that happened at a Walmart parking lot in the West Valley that also involved the responding police officers.
Here are the details.
Who's the suspect?
Per court documents, the suspect is 41-year-old Kyle A. Hawkins. A Lake Havasu City address is listed for Hawkins in the court documents.
What happened?
Investigators say officers were called out to the area of 55th Avenue and Northern at around 11:08 p.m. on Sept. 5 for reports of a family fight.
"The person reporting stated there was a white Toyota sedan in the parking lot, and a male was being punched by a passenger," read a portion of the court documents. "The male passenger then began dragging a female passenger out of the car and tackled her."
Police say when officers arrived at the scene, the person who called police pointed out a man located across the street, saying he was the one involved.
"This male would be the defendant," investigators wrote, referring to Hawkins.
Investigators say officers on scene then contacted Hawkins, and per the officers, Hawkins was "acting strangely by walking back and forth and yelling on the sidewalk." Hawkins also refused to comply with officer's orders for him to stop and sit down.
"One officer was standing behind him and the other in the front. The defendant looked at the officer in the front and raised his right making an 'L' shape with his thumb and pointer finger simulating a gun. He then said 'bang, bang' before hastily walking toward the officer," read a portion of the court documents. "Officers felt the defendant was trying to intimidate them and imminently assault them."
Police say Hawkins was then tackled to the ground by an officer who approached from behind.
"Officers were attempting to gain control of his arms when the defendant made the statement of 'you're going to have to shoot me,'" investigators wrote. "The defendant then reached out and began tugging on one officer's gun trying to gain control of it. One of the officers sees this and strikes the defendant in the back of the head with his elbow."
Hawkins, according to investigators, later tried to punch one of the officers, and managed to hit the officer in the arm.
"The defendant then reaches out and tries to grab at an officer's vest, trying to obtain a weapon again," read a portion of the court documents. "The defendant is then struck in the back of the head a second time with an elbow. One officer gains control of the defendant's legs, while the other gains control of his upper body, and they wait for a third officer to get on scene and take him into custody."
Investigators note that after Hawkins was placed in handcuffs, he was still "resisting and aggressively jolting his body around and kicking his legs."
"Three officers had to keep him restrained until the fire department arrived and sedated him," investigators wrote. "The defendant was extremely sweaty, and his pupils were extremely dilated. He was talking nonsense and stating he was Wolverine from the X-Men. He appeared to be heavily intoxicated by illegal drugs."
Hawkins, investigators say, was taken to the hospital, where he received three staples for a cut on the back of his head.
What is the suspect accused of?
(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Gustavo Castillo/Released)
Police say the suspect is accused of the following:
- Aggravated assault on a peace officer (A.R.S. 13-1204A8A)
- Aggravated assault - attempt to exercise control over a peace officer's firearm (A.R.S. 13-1204A9A)
- Resisting arrest - use of threat to use physical force against a peace officer (A.R.S. 13-2508A1)
A judge has set a $30,000 bond for Hawkins. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for the morning of Sept. 17.