De Soto Police used a stun gun to subdue a combative, naked man who was walking in traffic along Hwy. 110 on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 29)
At 2:46 p.m., De Soto Police responded to a call about the man walking in traffic and striking vehicles on Hwy. 110 near Fountain City Road, Chief Rick Draper said in a press release.
A De Soto Police sergeant arrived on the scene, got out of his patrol car and ordered the man to stop and come to the officer several times, but the 35-year-old Festus-area resident “told the sergeant to leave and charged at him, which forced our sergeant to deploy his department-issued Taser and use it on the male subject,” Draper reported.
As the man went to the ground, the sergeant and a patrolman tried to detain him, but he “became aggressive, forcing the sergeant to administer a drive stun to the body” of the man, which allowed officers to subdue the man and take him into custody. Officers were not hurt in the incident, Draper said.
The man was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Draper said several cars pulled off the road while the man wandered in an out of traffic and several people took pictures and videos of the incident and then posted them on social media. He said he found the onlookers’ behavior upsetting.
“Now he is going to have to relive this,” Draper said. “The bottom line is this is someone’s brother, someone’s son.”
While the man was acting erratically, police had no other evidence to determine whether he was on drugs, Draper said.
“He obviously snapped and had some kind of mental issue he was working through,” Draper said. “It was not immediately evident to officers that he was on drugs. I just hope this guy gets some help, whether he’s involved with drugs or has some kind of mental illness.”
Draper said the man could face charges for indecent exposure, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, but the decision is up to the prosecutor.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office also will seek two counts of property damage against the man for allegedly striking and kicking passing vehicles, causing damage to some of them, Capt. Gary Higginbotham said.