MELBOURNE, Fla. — A Melbourne police officer stunned an injured man with a Taser after he punched the paramedic tending to him Thursday night, authorities said.
Brevard County Fire-Rescue paramedics were called around 8:20 p.m. to treat a man who was lying in the middle of Lund Circle, which is west of Hibiscus and Airport boulevards.
Sgt. Cyril Hopping of the Melbourne Police Department said the “extremely intoxicated” man was involved in a fight in which a bicycle may have been thrown at him. He suffered a cut to the forehead and some knee abrasions, Hopping told Local 6 News partner Florida Today.
The officers left but soon returned after the patient became combative. A police cruiser followed the ambulance for the short trip to Holmes Regional Medical Center.
But when the ambulance reached the intersection of Babcock and Hibiscus boulevards, the man became violent, police said.
“He punched the EMT in the mouth,” Hopping said. “They pulled over, and the officers were right there. They attempted to restrain him, but he fought them.”
Around 8:40 p.m., one of the two officers used a Taser and subdued the man inside the ambulance.
The ambulance continued to the hospital, with both the man and the paramedic as patients. The paramedic suffered a large cut to the lip. He was treated at Holmes and later released. The man remained in the hospital late Thursday night but was reported to be in stable condition.
Referred to only as “John Doe” because he was not carrying identification, the man will face a felony charge of battery on a paramedic, which carries the same legal weight as if the victim were a police officer. Hopping also said he likely would be charged with resisting arrest.
Little information about the fight on Lund Circle was known, Hopping said, because witnesses did not know the man’s assailants.
“It’s not uncommon for (officers) to show up at a scene, then leave when we get there,” fire-rescue Lt. Jeff Taylor said. “And it’s standard for them to follow us when the patient is combative.”
Republished with permission from ClickOrlando.com