A Marion County sheriff’s deputy was forced to tase a Summerfield man who became aggressive after hiding out at his grandmother’s house.
A sheriff’s deputy spoke with 32-year-old Andrew Michael Cunningham’s grandmother, who at first denied he was inside her residence. After the deputy asked for consent to go inside to verify Cunningham wasn’t there, the grandmother admitted he was inside and gave permission for the deputy to enter her house, a sheriff’s office report states.
The deputy made contact with Cunningham and asked him to come outside to speak with him. He came outside and sat on the porch and the deputy explained that to him that he was going to be arrested in connection with a battery that had taken place Friday at a residence on SE 110th Street, the report says.
Cunningham then “got to his feet without any explanation” and went inside the house. The deputy followed him and chased him out the back door, around the house and back to the front door. During the foot pursuit, the deputy warned Cunningham multiple times that he would be tased if he didn’t stop running, the report says.
Cunningham eventually stopped and said he wanted to speak to his grandmother. The deputy ordered him to the ground and he started walking toward him “in an aggressive manner.” The deputy deployed his taser but Cunningham kept coming toward him and pushed him out the door, the report says.
Cunningham then fell off the porch and began trying to go back inside the house. The deputy deployed his taser a second time to gain control and was then able to place Cunningham in handcuffs, the report says.
Cunningham was transported to AdventHealth and after being medically cleared, he was taken to the Marion County Jail and charged with domestic battery, battery on an officer and resisting an officer without violence. He was being held on $9,000 bond and is due in court July 7 at 9 a.m.
