By Paige Barrella
WOODLAND, CA – Last Thursday afternoon here in Yolo County Superior Court, during a preliminary hearing for the accused, Officer Austin Adams of the City of Davis Police Department testified he did not see the accused hit another officer with a pencil-sized stick before he and fellow officers chased the accused, tased him twice and arrested him.
Despite detailed testimony, the judge in the case last week then reduced the attempted battery felony charge to a misdemeanor.
The accused is still facing misdemeanor charges for assault against a peace officer, resisting/obstructing public officer, using controlled substances/under the influence, and trespassing with enhancements for having a prior serious felony conviction, having a prior felony conviction, and committing a crime while on release from jail.
Officer Adams and his partner, Officer Fiona Wais, responded to a call on Jan. 29, 2023, stating that the accused was threatening to vandalize a woman’s vehicle in a parking structure if she parked there. When they arrived at the structure, the accused was asleep.
After telling the accused that he could stay at the structure so long as he did not threaten to vandalize any vehicles, all left the structure until the officers said they received a call that the accused was circling back to the building.
“He was welcome to stay there as long as I did not get repeat calls for service in regards to his behavior,” stated Officer Wais when questioned by the Yolo County Public Defender.
When the police interacted with the accused for the second time, they began chasing him to Uncle Vito’s Pizza after Officer Adams claims to have seen the accused throw something at a sergeant with the City of Davis Police Department.
“It was too small for me to be able to see,” Officer Adams responded when asked if he was able to see the item thrown. He then testified the accused was approximately five to seven feet away from the victim when the object, later identified to be a small stick roughly six inches long and no thicker than a pencil—a twig—was thrown.
Officer Adams testified the only indication the officer had been hit with the stick was that he had moved his head backwards. “I don’t recall if (the officer) was actually hit with it,” stated the officer when questioned by the Yolo County Public Defender.
It was only after the accused was in handcuffs that police went back to see what was thrown, then discovered the small stick/twig.
When the accused stopped at Vito’s Pizza, officers already had their tasers unholstered, they admitted. The accused assumed a “bladed stance” with his feet staggered, knees bent, and fists balled, claimed officers.
It was then that officers tased him once, and then twice when he did not seem to be affected, officers said. The accused was then hospitalized.
Upon hearing the testimony of officers, Yolo County Superior Court Judge Samuel T. McAdam reduced the charge corresponding with the stick being thrown from a felony to a misdemeanor.
