Fresno police detained ‘extremely drunk’ man. Then another assaulted officers. He’s in jail
A 64-year-old man who allegedly charged a Fresno police officer with his car before crashing into a wall following a short police chase was arrested late Sunday night.
The incident began with police responding to a call just after 11 p.m. about a suspicious person looking around vehicles at Electric Laboratories, an auto repair shop on East Sierra Avenue near Blackstone Avenue in northeast Fresno.
Fresno Police Lt. Bill Dooley said responding officers saw that man running across Sierra Avenue and chased him, detaining him across the street in a driveway of Trails End Mobile Home Park.
The man, who was not named or arrested, was “extremely intoxicated,” Dooley said, and was later taken to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno. While the officer was waiting for a patrol car to transport the drunk man, another man inside a parked Ford Mustang nearby revved his engine and started driving the vehicle toward them, Dooley said.
Dooley said police then hollered at the driver, Troy Heflin, and flashed a light to let him know they were there, but Heflin then started driving directly at them before speeding off. The officer and detained man were not harmed.
A short police chase followed. Heflin crashed into a cinder block wall at Derrel’s Mini Storage just north of the trailer park and then tried to run away but was arrested, Dooley said.
Dooley said Heflin sustained minor injuries from the crash and was booked into Fresno County Jail for two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and reckless driving.
Dooley wasn’t aware of a motive for the incident, or any relationship between Heflin and the drunk man.
This story was originally published September 6, 2021 at 12:15 PM.
