Casper, WY - Arrested Suspect Taken at Gunpoint Behind Wheel of Police Car - Tasered
Police: John Doe tries to hijack patrol car
Star-Tribune staff writer
A man initially arrested on controlled substance possession charges
slipped out of his handcuffs and tried to drive off in a patrol car Thursday
night, according to a Casper Police Department report.
When police initially pulled him over at 11:30 p.m. at Kimball Street and
Yellowstone Highway in his vehicle for having only one headlight, the man told
officers his name was Othoniel Cornelio. He did not have a driver's license on
him at the time of the traffic stop, according to the affidavit.
An officer asked the man to step out of the car while he checked to see if the
vehicle, which had no rear license plate, was stolen. Another officer witnessed
the man throw a bag onto the ground outside the vehicle, the report stated. The
substance inside was believed by police to be methamphetamine. He was arrested
and handcuffed.
But while talking with another agency to determine if there were any open
cases on Cornelio, officers noticed that Cornelio had gotten out of the patrol
car and had one hand out of his handcuffs, according to the report. Cornelio
then got into the front seat of the patrol car. A lieutenant threw his
flashlight at Cornelio, according to the report, and then he and an officer
pointed their handguns at him and told him to stop trying to put the car in
gear.
Cornelio agreed to get out of the vehicle, but then resisted arrest once he was
placed on the ground, according to the affidavit. The officer punched him
several times, and Tasered him before he was handcuffed and taken to jail. He
was booked as a John Doe until proper identification could be found.
He was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance, escaping from
detention and attempted grand larceny.