Malevolent Marsupial Motivates Mêlée
A wily opossum started a chain of events that ended up with a man tasered, his subsequent escape, a dog shot, then the capture of the fugitive. Sounds like an exciting day in San Diego. The malicious marsupial started the ball rolling by letting himself be spotted then pretending to be injured.
The events unfolded when officers were called to 44th Street north of El Cajon Boulevard in the Talmadge neighborhood after receiving a 911 call shortly before 11 a.m.
A man reportedly was yelling at another person who was standing over an injured possum, police said.
San Diego police Sgt. Rod Vandiver said the shouting man, who appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, started yelling at officers when they arrived.
Police Lt. Roger Howes said the man threatened an officer and claimed to have a gun. Vandiver said the man was cursing and then charged at the officers.
“Our officers then Tased the man, but he removed the barbs and walked away,” Vandiver said.
When the man refused to stop, officers chased him into a nearby fenced yard, where a Rottweiler came at one of them. The officers shot and wounded the dog, Vandiver said. A second dog, a pit bull, was not injured.
By then, students at nearby Hoover High had been restricted to their classrooms, and some residents had been cleared from the area.
The man managed to escape with the help of another man. They were found about 20 minutes later and taken into custody.
The troublemaker got his, though. He was so good at playing 'possum that the authorities had him put down.
By TC@LeatherPenguin, Wednesday, 27 September , 2006 @ 2:21 pm
A-HA!
Another Alliteration Addict!