Tempe Police reported the following incident Monday:
- A 36-year-old Tempe man was arrested Sunday on the 800 block of South River Drive on suspicion of aggravated assault of an officer and obstruction of governmental operations, according to a police report.
Officers approached the man after seeing him riding a bicycle and getting into an altercation with a car driver, police said.
The man then drove his bike against the flow of traffic trying to get away from the vehicle after the driver began to chase him, the report said.
Officers tried to stop the man by turning on the lights on their patrol car and parking across the sidewalk of the 2100 block of East University Drive, according to the report.
An officer exited the car and asked the man to stop and talk to him, police said.
The man told the officer he did not have to talk to him and began to pedal faster to try to elude police, the report said.
The man entered an apartment complex through the parking lot and officers chased him in the police car with the lights and siren activated, according to the report.
Officers saw the man pedaling toward the entrance of an apartment, police said.
An officer left the vehicle, chased the man on foot and told him to stop because he was under arrest, according to the report.
The man opened the door to the apartment and tried to go inside, but the officer grabbed his right arm, police said.
The man tried to slam the door shut and the officer told him to let go of it, according to the report.
After the man continued trying to slam the door, the officer pushed it open with the left side of his body, the report said.
The man ran into a bedroom and the officer waited by the door until other officers arrived on scene, according to the report.
Officers called the man out of the bedroom and apprehended him, the report said.
During a post-Miranda interview, the man told police he had “flipped off” the driver after the vehicle blocked the bicycle lane, according to the report.
The man also said he was trying to get away from the driver when he saw the police lights, but since he did nothing wrong he “didn’t want to deal with it,” the report said.
The man said he had seen the police lights while crossing the apartment complex but did not stop because he was upset about the altercation with the car driver, police reported.
The man told police he knew his actions were wrong but he was just in a bad mood, the report said.
The man was transported to Tempe City Jail, where he was booked and held to see a judge, according to the report.
Report compiled by Dulce Paloma Baltazar Pedraza
Reach the news editor at dpbaltaz@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @dpalomabp
