A Tucson driver is facing a string of criminal charges, accused of crashing through a closed construction zone and trying to run down a state trooper before the suspect was Tasered into submission.
Ruben R. Lopez, 40, was booked into the Pima County jail on Monday, shortly after a violent confrontation with Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers. He was "suspected of being impaired," at the time, the DPS said.
Lopez was charged on suspicion of aggravated assault, resisting arrest, endangerment and unlawful flight.
The department said Lopez was eastbound on Interstate 10 around 9:40 p.m. when "he drove through a closed construction zone at a high rate of speed, striking several traffic barricades."
The state troopers, who were stationed at the construction zone in marked vehicles, took up pursuit and tried to stop him as he continued on I-10 then headed south on Interstate 19 before he was cornered on Valencia Road, the department said.
At that point, "Mr. Lopez then attempted to drive his vehicle at one of troopers, who fired his weapon in self-defense," DPS spokesman Bart Graves told the Arizona Daily Star.
A second trooper intervened by driving his patrol car at the suspect's car to disable it, Graves said in an email.
When troopers moved in to arrest the man, he resisted and was Tasered to subdue him, he said.
Graves would not release the names of the deputies directly involved in the incident. He instructed the Star to file a public records request, which typically takes about 15 days to process, according to the DPS website.
