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Norwalk Man Charged With Trying To Fight Cops After Trespassing

NORWALK, Conn. -- A Norwalk man tried to fight officers after he was caught trespassing in his apartment building's basement, according to police reports.

Norwalk police charged a Commerce Street man with interfering with an officer and trespassing Tuesday afternoon.

Norwalk police charged a Commerce Street man with interfering with an officer and trespassing Tuesday afternoon.

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue

Derrick Gardner, 50, was charged with third-degree criminal trespassing, interfering with an officer and refusal to be fingerprinted. He was held on $500 bond and will appear in court July 17.

Police were called to a Commerce Street apartment building at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday. An engineer who works at the building told police that he had caught Gardner, a resident, down in the basement, where he was not allowed.

The engineer, who has an office in the basement, told police that he has caught Gardner down there before and told him repeatedly that he is not allowed to be there. He said that Gardner brings women there and hangs out, according to police reports.

When the engineer asked Gardner why he was there, Gardner told him he had built the building and owned it, police said. The engineer told Gardner he would call police, at which point Gardner left.

When officers arrived, they found Gardner walking down Commerce Street and stopped to talk to him, police said. They asked him for his name and ID, and he refused, according to police.

He became agitated and took up a fighting stance, police said. The officers told him that they wanted to take him back to the apartment building and straighten things out, and asked him to get in their squad car. Gardner refused and said he wanted to walk, police said.

The officers tried to escort Gardner to the car, and he began resisting and pulling away, according to police reports. They grabbed him by the arms, and he tried to kick the officers, police said. The officers tried to place him in handcuffs, but he pulled away and cocked his arm and made a fist to punch the officers, according to police reports.

Police said Gardner was warned four times to stop resisting, or else he would be Tasered. He continued to actively resist and kick at the officers, at which point he was Tasered. He was taken to the hospital to remove the Taser barbs from his chest, and then taken to police headquarters, where he was processed. While in custody he refused to be fingerprinted, according to police.

 

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