A Belleview man who was reportedly drunk and trying to fight random people was arrested on Christmas Eve after allegedly tussling with another man and striking a woman who tried to stop it.
Max Jose Allen Cerda, 40, was charged with two counts of domestic battery (second offense) and resisting an officer without violence after the incident, which happened shortly before midnight.
Belleview Police responded to a report of a physical disturbance and observed two Hispanic males and a Hispanic female walking in the street. An officer asked the closest male, Cerda, what happened and he said he was jumped. Cerda was visibly intoxicated, according to the police report.
As the officer was trying to get Cerda to calm down and say where the people were who jumped him, another officer went to speak to the other man, who was a victim. When the witness refused to obey the officer’s instructions to stop walking away, the officer performed a takedown maneuver and detained him. Cerda saw this and became even more agitated and yelled that the victim was just defending him, the report said.
Cerda started walking towards the officer who took down the witness and two other officers stepped between them. They told Cerda to back up and stand by the patrol vehicle, but he continued to yell and curse, ignored orders, and tried to step around them. After Cerda continued to refuse to cooperate, the officers used a takedown maneuver and tried to put him in handcuffs, but he tucked his arms in front of his body and tried to stand up. Officers were finally able to pull Cerda’s arms free and put him in handcuffs, according to the report.
The victim said he heard a commotion outside but didn’t see anyone fighting with Cerda. He said he and Cerda started arguing because Cerda was drunk. The victim said nothing else happened, the report said.
The female victim said Cerda was intoxicated and was arguing with the male victim and started pushing him. She said the two men started fighting and she tried to get between them. The female victim said Cerda hit her. She said it felt like an intentional but it might have been an accident. The officer observed slight redness to her cheek, according to the report.
Asked again what happened, the male victim said he and Cerda were arguing because Cerda was drunk and fighting random people and pushed him. The male victim said he and Cerda kind of wrestled, pushing each other back and forth, but no punches were thrown. He said while he and Cerda were “tussling,” the female victim tried to get between them and might have gotten hit, but he didn’t see it happen, the report said.
Cerda continued to maintain he was jumped and denied pushing the male victim and striking the female victim. A criminal records search revealed that Cerda was convicted of domestic battery in May 2004 in Marion County.
Cerda was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was held on $3,000 bond. He’s scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on Jan. 28.