Two bystanders jump in to help a police officer arrest a man after he attacked the police officer at a Sam’s Club in Provo when he was conducting a welfare check.
Body camera footage shows a man reaching for an officer’s gun and punching the officer in the head before running away. This happened after the police officer asked if he had asked people for water, and asked if he was OK.
Officer Austin Williams was assigned to a “check for well being” call at the Sam’s Club in Provo, Utah. Police received calls that a disoriented man was walking around asking people for water in the parking lot.
Officer Williams explained the encounter. “He kind of looked at me and waved me off and I said do you need some water,” Senior Provo Police Department Officer Austin Williams said. That’s when the man, who was identified as Emiliano Medina, turned back. “He quickly pointed at my side and made a gun motion with his hand and pointed it at his head,” Williams said. That’s when the Williams says the man stepped toward him, reaching for his gun. “Being a dad, the first things out of my mouth were ‘don’t touch that,’” Williams said. “I kind of hesitated for a millisecond thinking, ‘did that just happen?’ and then once I realized it did, and I had to take action at that point.” While grabbing Medina’s left arm, Medina used his right arm to punch officer Williams in the head. “I tried to trip him and put him on the ground, and as soon as he went down, he pushed back up and at that point was able to pull away from my grasp,” Williams said.
As Medina fled, an unidentified man in a white shirt used his own hip and arms to thrown Medina to the ground.
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Injuries: Unknown
Damage Estimate: $Unknown
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