By Travis Uresk
4/22/24
| Vernal Ut. | April 12th, 2024 |
Vernal PD was dispatched to a call of an intoxicated male walking East on Main Street past the 7-Eleven on 500 East. Two individuals called on the male, reporting him "stumbling all over" and "staggering around."
When Sgt Watt arrived in the area, he saw a male walking East on the North side of the road just West of the Gateway Saloon at 733 East Main. The male lost his balance and fell just before getting to the sidewalk in front of the Saloon.
Sgt Watt pulled into the Gateway's parking lot to speak with the male subject, whom the officer recognized from an earlier unrelated case but couldn’t remember his name. The officer honked his horn to get the male's attention and asked him what was going on and the male stated he was walking back to his room.
The Sgt pointed out to the male that he was falling everywhere. The subject stated, "Yes, I have been drinking."
The Sgt asked if he could get a ride back to his room from someone, and he again said he was fixing to walk back to the room with slurred speech. The officer kept in mind that this was a large man, over 6 feet tall.
Sgt Watt asked for the male's identification, and he took out his wallet and said, "Do you want to get hit in your mouth?"
At this point, the officer pulled out his taser and pointed it at the male subject, commanding him to put his hands behind his back. The male stated alright, stumbled to the officer's patrol truck, and stopped. He was told several times to put his hands behind his back before the male complied. Just then, an assisting officer arrived and placed the man in handcuffs.
Sgt Watt said to the male, “This is what happens when you threaten to hit an officer in the mouth.”
The male commented several times that the police couldn't fight him without using a taser. The officers responded that they weren't going to fight him; they were trying to prevent a fight.
As other officers arrived, he began yelling and cursing at them because they carried tasers, and he wanted to bet that officers couldn't beat him without them.
He refused to do a breath test, and because of his behavior and threats, he was taken directly to jail. A photocopied ID card identified the male out of Tennessee as 38-year-old Landon Paul Waddell.
While the officer was transporting Landon to jail, he kept making threats, wanting to fight the officer, saying, "I can't wait until these handcuffs are taken off."
When they arrived at the jail, Sgt Watt requested a Corrections Deputy to meet them in the sally port. When they arrived at the jail, Landon kept his threatening behavior and started banging his head on the plexiglass in the patrol vehicle.
When the Sgt opened the door to get Landon to stop hitting his head, Landon stated Sgt Watt hit him with the taser, and then he was going to hit the Sgt in the mouth.
Corrections Deputies arrived to help get Landon inside the jail, and he immediately started the name-calling and threatening again, wanting to fight all of the officers and deputies.
The Corrections Deputies then took hold of him and walked him into the booking area, where he was secured in a restraint chair. He then continued to make threats and demean the female Corrections Deputies.
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