Man charged for spitting on police, kicking inside of patrol car

EPHRATA — A Moses Lake man was pepper sprayed three times after he allegedly spat on two Moses Lake Police Department officers and attempted to kick out a window in a patrol car.

Grant County prosecutors charged Anthony Lucio, 30, of Moses Lake, with first-degree attempted malicious mischief (public service interruption), third-degree assault (law enforcement officer), and obstructing a law enforcement officer.

Lucio’s charges stem from an incident on July 10, when the Moses Lake Police Department received a report of a male, alleged to be Lucio, punching windows in the 100 block of West Broadway Avenue. When officers arrived at the scene Lucio was reportedly standing outside of a tavern on Broadway Avenue waving his arms at the people inside and yelling.

He was reportedly agitated and did not cooperate with police directions when he was initially contacted. Lucio acted combative when a MLPD officer attempted to detain him, which caused the officer to force him down on the sidewalk. While on the sidewalk Lucio refused to put his arms behind his back and a MLPD officer pepper sprayed him in the face for about a second. Lucio eventually complied, but allegedly spat in the face of two MLPD officers when he was placed into handcuffs and searched.

The suspect was later placed into the back of a patrol car and allegedly began “violently” kicking out the window and door inside the car. A officer delivered an additional short burst of pepper spray at Lucio inside of the vehicle and he was removed from the car. Moses Lake Fire Department personnel arrived at the scene and rinsed Lucio’s eyes, after which he was placed back into a patrol car and again started kicking the inside of the vehicle.

“I opened the opposite door and advised him to stop kicking or he was going to be sprayed again. Moments after I walked away Lucio began violently kicking the door and plastic window shield. Lucio was kicking so hard the entire door was flexing out and I believed he was going to break out the shield.”

Lucio was then pepper-sprayed for a third time in the face, which caused him to temporarily stop kicking the door. While he was being transported to the Grant County Jail Lucio allegedly started screaming and violently kicking the inside of the patrol vehicle. The officer stated he believed Lucio was under the influence of drugs, as he was talking to himself in the vehicle and sounded as if he was carrying on a conversation in the back of the car about “getting out of the city so they don’t get shot.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.