By AKANE OTANI
A police officer investigating complaints of youth spray-painting graffiti in the Cayuga Street parking garage Friday was nearly choked by a young male before the man was Tasered and caught, according to the Ithaca Police Department.
Police headed to the garage around 5:32 p.m. when they received reports of possible vandalism occurring in the garage, according to a press release from IPD. The first police officer to arrive on the scene saw four young men on the seventh level of the garage. As he began investigating, one of the men become hostile, at one point trying to choke the police officer.
The officer was able to escape the chokehold, and the young man fled on foot, according to the IPD. A second police officer responding to the scene pursued the man on foot, eventually catching him by stunning him with a Taser gun.
Police are continuing to investigate the incident, and charges are pending. Neither police officers nor the young men reported any injuries, according to the IPD.