Suspect Tased, officer injured in scuffle

Kalispell Police ended up using a Taser on a combative teenager Sunday, and one officer suffered injuries in the scuffle near Smith’s Food and Drug.

Officers were summoned to the area to investigate a report of an intoxicated male lying in the road. They discovered the suspect, 18-year-old Dawson Baer of Polson, sitting on a pallet outside the store.

Baer refused to cooperate or give an explanation for his actions, and he was verbally challenging toward the officers, with his body language indicating he was preparing to fight, a Kalispell Police press release states.

“Baer’s actions were consistent with someone under the influence of an intoxicating substance,” the release states.

Officers attempted to secure him in handcuffs, but Baer broke free and ran into another officer who tried to wrestle Baer to the ground. Baer continued to try to escape and attempted to head butt the officer.

He was warned to cease or be Tased. When he refused, officers used the Taser on Baer, but with little or no effect, furthering officers’ suspicions that he was intoxicated. They eventually gained control of Baer, and he was arrested.

As a result of his combativeness, an officer suffered multiple bruises to his extremities and a contusion on his head that resulted in a mild concussion. He was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, where he was treated and released.

Baer suffered multiple minor abrasions in the altercation. He was taken to the hospital and later to the Flathead County Detention Center, where he faces a felony charge of assaulting a police officer.