A $25,000 cash only bond was set Wednesday for a Pine Bluff man who was subdued by multiple officers using tazers after they responded to a report that he was throwing furniture out of a house Monday.
Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth set the bond after ruling prosecutors had probable cause to charge Shawn Hence, 35, with felony criminal mischief and aggravated assault on a police officer.
Hence was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair under heavy guard, with a dozen deputies and jailers surrounding him as he was wheeled to the front of the courtroom and wheeled back out as soon as Bridgforth was done.
Deputy Prosecutor Maxie Kizer said police were sent to 1415 S. Locust St., at about 5 p.m. Monday in response to a reported disturbance and encountered Hence, who clinched his fists and started spitting at the first officer on the scene, while walking toward her.
The Officer, April Tirado, told Hence several times to stop and when he refused and lunged toward her, she used her tazer several times with no effect, and Hence was able to pull the prongs out and run back inside the house.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Kizer said the furniture that Hence was throwing out of the house did not belong to him and officers had to force their way inside the residence where they found Hence lying in a bed covered with a blanket.
Other officers also used tazers on Hence when he refused to roll over and put his hands behind his back. Those tazer shots also reportedly had no effect and police finally pried Hence’s hands out from under him so that he could be handcuffed and carried to an ambulance. Hence was taken to Jefferson Regional Medical Center where the tazer prongs were removed. He was then taken to the adult detention center.
Bridgforth appointed the Public Defender’s Office to represent Hence and told him to come back to court March 8 at 9 a.m.