Homer Police Officer Jacob Ruebelmann last Saturday shot twice with a Taser a man at a Pioneer Avenue bar parking lot after police said the man, Thomas Custer, 27, refused to get on the ground while being arrested and present his arms to be handcuffed.
The incident began when Ruebelmann saw a fight in progress in the parking lot of the Alibi Bar. Nelton Palma, the bar owner, and Patrick Nestor, the bouncer, had removed Custer from the bar because he was too drunk to be served. Custer became belligerent and assaulted the men, police said in a criminal complaint. Ruebelmann saw Custer with blood on his face and nose when he arrived. Officer Larry Baxter arrived to help Ruebelmann.
Ruebelmann and Baxter handcuffed Custer after he had been tased. When they put him in a patrol car, Custer kicked at them, hitting the cops in the shins, Baxter wrote. He also spat blood at them, police said. Custer was charged with fourth-degree assault on a police officer, two counts; resisting or interfering with arrest; first-degree harassment, two counts; access of drunken person to licensed premises; fifth-degree criminal mischief, two counts; second-degree criminal trespass; disorderly conduct.