By Phil Anderson
Topeka Capital-Journal
TOPEKA, Kan. — Topeka police on Thursday morning used a Taser to subdue an intoxicated man after he struck two officers in the face just west of downtown, authorities said.
The incident unfolded around 9 a.m. near a city sidewalk construction project at S.W. 2nd and Fillmore, police said.
As city crews were replacing a public sidewalk on the block, police said, Brent Andrew Nothern, 48, who lives in the neighborhood, yelled at workers to get off his property.
Though the workers were on city property, Nothern continued yelling at them. The man then went into his house and came out with a long knife, threatening to cut the tires to a cement mixer that was on site.
He calmed down and went back inside his house, but he came out again a short time later and resumed yelling at the workers.
Police were called to the scene and began talking with the man, telling him not to go back inside his home at that time for fear he would return with the knife.
Nothern resisted orders to stay outside, police said, and struck one officer in the face. After police got the man on the ground, he struck another officer.
At that point, police used a Taser to bring the man under control. Nothern was taken into custody and booked into jail for battery on a law enforcement officer, interference with a lawful occupation and disobeying a lawful police order. He bonded out and was released at 2:59 p.m., a police official said.
No serious injuries were reported.
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