Man charged with assaulting Moses Lake police officers last year

MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake man reportedly had drugs in his system in February 2017 when he assaulted two Moses Lake cops and grabbed at one of their weapons.

Grant County prosecutors charged Joseph Zamora, 36, of Moses Lake, in Grant County Superior Court with two counts of third-degree assault-law enforcement officer.

The charges relate to a Feb. 5, 2017 incident after the Moses Lake Police Department received a report of a suspicious person dressed in black, carrying a suitcase and prowling around vehicles in the 9100 block of Space Street Northeast.

An MLPD officer quickly responded and spotted a male, Zamora, running in his direction along the south side of Space Street. Before police received the Space Street call, Zamora was reportedly at his brother’s residence on Grape Drive. The brother reported Zamora appeared to be under the influence of drugs when he was around him that day.

When the MLPD officer approached Zamora the suspect did not respond to the officer’s questioning and turned around to walk away. The officer took hold of Zamora’s arms and he didn’t attempt to flee “but rather leaned back into (the officer) and attempted to pull his hands free.”

Zamora was able to break free from the officer’s grasp and the officer attempted to use a leg sweep to take him down. The leg sweep did not work and Zamora turned to face the officer. Zamora reportedly had his left hand in his left pocket and the officer “shoved Zamora as hard as he could.” Zamora slipped, fell backward and ended up hitting his head on the bumper of a pickup truck.

The officer was able to get Zamora’s hand out of his pocket, but Zamora reportedly used his right hand to pull the cop’s lapel mic and cord, which ended up stretching across the officer's neck. Feeling that Zamora was going to wrap the cord around his neck, the officer struck Zamora several times. During the struggle Zamora grabbed onto the grip of the officer’s pistol and he was pepper sprayed in the eyes.

At some point Zamora ended up face-to-face with the officer and he tugged at the cop’s gun again. In an attempt to gain control over Zamora the officer continued striking the suspect and told him to stop resisting. Zamora kneed the officer several times in the lower back and in response the officer drew his gun and put it to Zamora’s head and told him he was “going to kill him.”

“Zamora responded to this by turning his head, opening his mouth, and biting down on the muzzle of the weapon and growling,” wrote an officer.

The officer ended up pulling the gun from Zamora’s mouth and pressed it to his left eye, but the gun reportedly ended up back in his mouth and Zamora continued growling. Additional officers arrived at the scene and Zamora was secured in handcuffs after he assaulted another officer. More pepper spray and Taser rounds were deployed.

“Throughout the struggle of placing Zamora in handcuffs and leg restraints, it was noted by all of the officers involved; Zamora displayed abnormally high levels of strength and aggression for a person of his size and stature,” reads court documents.

Police searched Zamora and discovered a folding knife in his left coat pocket. When medical units arrived at the scene Zamora was non-responsive and had stopped breathing. Zamora’s restraints were removed and emergency personnel found a pulse about 10 minutes later. He was transported to Samaritan Hospital and later taken to a hospital in the Spokane area. A blood screen revealed Zamora had amphetamine, methamphetamine and THC in his system.

Zamora was interviewed in July 2017 and admitted to using meth and marijuana, but he said the meth use was two days prior to his arrest and “he felt that he was coming down.”

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