After a St. Paul police officer asked a man to return items stolen from a gas station, he yelled at her, punched her in the face and then bit another officer, according to criminal charges filed Tuesday.
Then Julius Haddison-Fondanui Tasha, 32, ran away, according to the charges. Officer Shannon Diedrich pursued and they wrestled on the ground early Saturday, a witness reported.
She was left with marks on her face, arm, hand and knee, and was taken to Regions Hospital for treatment.
“It just goes to show that any time, any crime can take a dangerous turn for our officers,” said St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell. “… I’m thankful for Officer Diedrich’s tenacity to get back up and help her fellow officers find the suspect before he could hurt anyone else.”
Workers at the Speedway in Lowertown reported Tasha, of Minneapolis, tried to steal multiple items.
Diedrich, who was working off-duty at the gas station at East Seventh and Wall streets on Saturday about 1:30 a.m., said she followed Tasha outside and “advised him to simply leave the food,” according to the criminal complaint charging him with two counts of fourth-degree assault on a peace officer.
A Speedway worker reported that Diedrich grabbed hold of Tasha’s shirt. Tasha then punched her three to four times in the face with a closed fist, the complaint said.
Tasha ran and another officer encountered him nearby at Seventh and Olive streets. Tasha swung a fist toward the officer’s face, but he was able to avoid the blow, the complaint said.
Officers tried to take Tasha into custody and he “resisted with physical aggression,” the complaint continued. “As Officer Mitchell Mountain attempted to gain control of his left arm, the man bit Officer Mountain’s left forearm.”
After his arrest, Tasha told police he was warming up food at Speedway when an officer told him to put down the food and leave. He said he did, and denied that he punched or fought the officer.
