JACKSON TWP. — Police say a Carmel Ridge Road resident called 911 just to see how long it would take officers to get there, then fought with the officer who was trying to question him.
Cody P. Murphy, 22, was charged April 27 with battery against a public safety official, a Level 6 felony; and three misdemeanors: resisting law enforcement, unlawful use of 911 service and disorderly conduct.
Deputy Joe Jackson’s report says that Murphy made a “confusing” 911 call at about 12:30 a.m. April 22. He told dispatch that four cars had left a house on Carmel Ridge Road and “they shouldn’t have been driving.” He then said that he didn’t think the drivers were drunk, but they didn’t have valid licenses.
He asked dispatch if they remembered the address from a previous call he made, and the dispatcher asked him if he had an emergency.
Murphy said that the last time he called “it took 35 minutes for the two officers that were working in the county sitting in Gnaw Bone to arrive.” When dispatch asked again what his emergency was and what his name was, he hung up, the report said.
When dispatch called the number back, Murphy said “he just wanted to see how long it would take officers to arrive,” the report said.
Jackson and Deputy Josh Stargell started toward that address and saw one vehicle matching Murphy’s descriptions on State Road 45. Stargell followed it, but did not see the driver commit any infractions.
Jackson continued on to the house where the call came from. He found several cars and a bonfire, and a white truck with four women standing next to it and a door open. He asked who called 911, and the person in the driver’s seat raised his hand. It was Murphy, the report said.
When Jackson asked why he called 911, he “started to get mouthy” and it was clear he was intoxicated, Jackson wrote. He asked Murphy to step out of the vehicle several times. He finally did, but refused to answer Jackson’s questions directly, the report said.
Jackson said he told Murphy he was conducting an investigation and he was being disorderly. The officer told him to turn around and put his hands behind his back, but Murphy resisted by pulling away, the report said. By now, they were away from the lights of the patrol car and in the dark. As Jackson struggled to get his arm behind his back, Murphy “turned and squared off with me and grabbed by shirt collar and tried to fight me,” Jackson wrote. “At that time, I took Murphy to the ground.”
Murphy continued to struggle while on the ground, trying to grab Jackson’s duty belt and uniform. At some point, Jackson’s radio got knocked off, so he couldn’t call for backup, he wrote. “After several minutes of struggling and the use of forceful pain compliance, I was able to place Murphy into handcuffs without any cooperation from Murphy,” the officer wrote.
Jackson asked him if he had any weapons or anything on him that would stick him when he searched him, and Murphy said no. The officer then found a knife in his pocket, his report said.
Stargell took Murphy to jail.
Jackson reported that he ended up with scratches on his arms and bruising on his eye, and his uniform was torn.
