From Metro Police
October 3, 2022 – A Central Precinct officer is recovering at home today after being kicked in the head while arresting a suspect involved in a fight on 3rd Avenue South and Symphony Place Saturday afternoon.
Ancelmo Garcia Vasquez, 24, had cut a man with a box cutter and was seen by the responding officers attacking the victim with a large metal water bottle.
Officer Eric Ziegler, a 27-year-old one-year-veteran of the MNPD, was attempting to bring Vasquez into custody when he was repeatedly kicked by the 24-year-old and suffered a head injury. Another officer was also kicked in the knee during the interaction.
Officer Ziegler was admitted to a local hospital for evaluation and discharged shortly after.
Vasquez was charged with two counts of assaulting an officer, aggravated assault, resisting arrest and public intoxication. He is being held in lieu of $75,100 bond.
