Caught on camera: El Paso man charged with attacking police officer with a hatchet
EL PASO, Texas -- An El Paso man is jailed and being held on over $125,000 bond after he attacked an officer with a hatchet, police said Thursday.
29–year-old Rodney Raymond Zavala is seen on images released by police as he flung a hatchet at an officer who responded Wednesday to a theft at the Barrel House Liquor Store on Montana Avenue.
Police said Zavala was drinking a stolen bottle of liquor as the officer approached - and then threw that bottle at him.
The lone officer tried to use his Taser, but it was ineffective. Zavala can then be seen on the police-provided images pulling a hatchet from his waistband.
"Zavala raised it above his head, lunged at the officer and flung the hatchet at him," according to a police report on the incident. "In the time it took the officer to retreat to his patrol car and transition to his handgun, the immediate deadly threat was no longer present as the hatchet skipped off the car and landed in the roadway."
Zavala was taken into custody a short time later and charged with aggravated assault against a public servant. He was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility on five outstanding criminal warrants.
