TASED BUT UNFAZED
EAST BENSON HIGHWAY JULY 23, 7:40 P.M.
A lone, aggressive cowboy-type clad in black assaulted a truck-stop waitress with a coffee mug and was later Tased by a sheriff's deputy—but he was blasé about both incidents, saying things could've been much worse, according to a Pima County Sheriff's Department report.
Deputies responded to the Triple T Truck Stop diner, 5451 E. Benson Hwy., where employees reported that a customer known for stiffing the diner had come in to fill his coffee mug—and then only offered a dollar to pay for the coffee, while it cost $1.60. When he reportedly refused to pay the additional pittance—shouting and cursing by the register—the counter waitress dumped out his coffee (as she'd warned him she'd do) and returned his mug. She told deputies that he then threw the mug forcefully at her head, along with some paper money and a change purse (which evidently held more than 60 cents, since it gave her a notable blow on the forehead), before leaving the scene. He was described as a 6-foot-tall 45-year-old wearing a black cowboy hat, black jeans and a black shirt.
One deputy spotted his shadowy figure walking along the highway near the diner with a rolling cart holding several duffel bags. The deputy pulled over on the frontage road and opened his car door to face the man, calmly identifying himself as law enforcement. The subject suddenly became irate, rushing toward the vehicle and punching it—and then screaming, "I don't fucking care who you are; I'm gonna kick your ass!"
Since the man acted increasingly violent when the deputy tried to pacify him—repeating "I'm gonna kick your ass!"—the deputy found it necessary to use his Taser. The man fell and was forced into handcuffs, but even right after being Tasered, he became belligerent again, cursing and yelling at arresting officers.
Paramedics responded to address the man's Taser wound, which had been bleeding, but the man waved them away, repeating, "I don't fucking need anything."
Placed in a patrol vehicle as he was arrested on charges of assault and disorderly conduct, he scoffed to the first deputy: "You're a fucking pussy. Your Taser is shit. I've been Tased by much harder ones that made me shit my pants."
Questioned about his actions at the diner earlier, he openly admitted to throwing his coffee mug and other items at the waitress's head, going further to say, "If she thinks that was an assault, she's lucky I really didn't hop over the counter and beat her face in."
The man was brought to jail and was actually returned his coffee mug and change purse, which were held for him there with the rest of his belongings.
