Man arrested for battering cops had to be sedated

Andrew Rivas III, 37, of Bernalillo, was arrested Nov. 13 for two counts of aggravated battery upon a peace officer and three counts of aggravated assault upon a peace officer.

Bernalillo Police officers responded to the area of Calle Chaparral and Camino Isabella on a public nuisance call in which the caller said there was a man in a black T-shirt throwing rocks before getting upset and hanging up.

When officers arrived on scene, they saw Rivas walking on Calle Chaparral in the clothing described by the caller. He also matched the description of a previous call from 30 minutes earlier.

Rivas had one rock in each hand and raised them above his head when he saw an officer approaching. He dropped his hands to his sides but was still holding the rocks.

When ordered to put down the rocks, Rivas went behind a fence around his hands, then came back out to the road with the rocks still in his hand. In an aggressive manner, he told the officer “You are going to remember this.”

He then ran at the officer, who, feeling threatened, tried to use the department-issued Taser, which didn’t work.

Rivas reportedly ran past the officer’s car. Another officer ordered Rivas to drop the rocks. Instead, he raised his right hand, with the rock in hand, above his head and continued to be noncompliant and aggressive. One officer was able to use his Taser on Rivas, who fell to the ground.

Rivas was still fighting officers at that point. They were attempting to cuff him when he pulled out the Taser prongs. He got up and ran toward Rotary Park, still with an object in hand.

At this point an officer got a less-lethal shotgun because Rivas was not slowing down. The officer caught up with the officers chasing Rivas, who stopped in the park parking lot and continued to throw large rocks at officers.

At this point, officers warned Rivas they would shoot him with bean bags, but he continued to throw rocks at the officers. Officers struck him in the back with a deployment of bean bags, and he ran toward the skate park, where there were civilians present. Officers deployed a second bean bag, which caused Rivas to fall.

As officers again tried to cuff him, he continued to resist and insulted the officers. He also attempted to escape again. He continued to struggle after being cuffed and also spat on an officer. At this point, EMTs sedated Rivas and he was transported to a medical facility.

One officer was also transported for medical attention after being struck by one of the rocks that was thrown while the other was medically cleared.

If convicted, Rivas will face more than six years in prison.