Man, 24, tasered in a Mt Tarcoola backyard after allegedly throwing glass bottle at police

A man was tasered in a Mt Tarcoola backyard last week after he allegedly threw a glass bottle at police officers who were responding after a concerned friend contacted them.

Police say last Wednesday around 9.30am police were called to an address in Mt Tarcoola to conduct a welfare check on a 24-year-old man unknown to police.

Geraldton police officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Chris Martin said the police were contacted by a friend of the 24-year-old who was concerned for his mental health, reporting to police he was “acting slightly strange”. Four officers were sent to the address.

“(They) spoke with the man in the rear garden of the property who was initially verbally aggressive towards police,” he said.

Sen. Sgt Martin said while the officers made every effort to calm him down, the man continued to act in a belligerent and agitated manner, before launching a glass bottle towards the officers.

“He began to ask if police wanted to fight him, which they refused. He proceeded to pick up an empty glass bottle and threw it at attending police officers,” he said.

Sen. Sgt Martin said the officers were forced to subdue the man by tasering him.

“The attending officer managed to avoid being struck with the bottle, however, in order to subdue this male, police were forced to use some force options and was subdued accordingly,” he said.

Sen Sgt Martin alleged the man’s friend said the 24-year-old thought he was being followed and talked about self harm.

“We believe he had possibly been using drugs or alcohol during the night,” he said.

The man was arrested and detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to Geraldton Regional Hospital for further assessment.

Sen. Sgt Martin said the man was receiving hospital care and police would enforce charges at a later date.

The man was not charged by police at the time of publication.

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