HOUSTON — A man kicked an officer in the torso and tried to bite them while being taken into custody after yelling at a CenterPoint Energy crew working to restore power that he was going to get a gun, according to court documents.
Paul Myers, 60, is charged with assault on a peace officer, which is usually a third-degree felony, but since it happened during a disaster, it was elevated to a second-degree felony. He's facing up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Myers was taken into custody just before noon Tuesday. Court documents also claim Myers wrestled with the officer on the ground to not be put in a patrol car.
"They heard the individual had a gun so were trying to prevent him from going back into the home and escalating things to a much more dire situation. Asked to detain him. He refused. He didn't want to cooperate, so they ended up trying to put him in handcuffs. He resisted. At that point, he tried to bite the officers, kicked them multiple times," prosecutor Edward Gomez said.
His bond was set at $50,000 in court Thursday morning.
This is just one of several alleged incidents in which Houston area residents threatened linemen working to restore power, according to local law enforcement. The actions prompted city leaders and law enforcement to warn that threats and other crimes will not be tolerated.
At the same time, our VERIFY team debunked online claims of lineman being held hostage or given fentanyl-laced water.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire said earlier this week people have the right to be frustrated, but not to the point of violence.
"To Houstonians, anyone that can hear my voice, these linemen are our friends," Whitmire said. "Quit threatening violence."
As of Thursday morning, CenterPoint reported having restored power to more than 2.2 million customers. They said around 30,000 Houston-area customers were still without power.
