Officers Taser, Pepper Spray Hallucinating San Jose State Student
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) - San Jose State University police used a Taser and pepper spray to subdue an allegedly aggressive student who was wandering around a residence hall on campus on Monday night, possibly under the influence of drugs, university officials said.
Officers were dispatched to Building B of the Campus Village Apartments at 9:02 p.m. to check on the man's well-being after a resident adviser reported that he was walking around and seemed lethargic and unresponsive, police Detective Sgt. Manuel Aguayo said.
The first arriving officer located 23-year-old Badi Hussein Gila, who is a student at the school but lives off-campus, Aguayo said.
Gila, described by police as 6 feet 4 inches tall and 200 pounds, was wandering around the sixth floor and appeared to be in a hallucinogenic state, university officials said.
"He was not speaking," Aguayo said.
Gila refused obey commands and approached the officer in a "threatening manner," grabbing him, Aguayo said.
Backup officers began to arrive, and police used pepper spray then the Taser in an attempt to subdue him, but he continued to resist, Aguayo said.
A total of six officers were able to take him into custody after a physical struggle, Aguayo said.
Gila was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance, battery on a police officer and resisting, delaying or obstructing a police officer.
He was taken to a hospital to be treated for pepper-spray contamination and small puncture wounds from the Taser, Aguayo said. He was then booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail at about 3:45 a.m.
Aguayo said it will be several weeks before toxicology tests determine what type of drug Gila might have ingested.
No other students were involved in the confrontation, and no officers were injured, according to the university. The incident remains under investigation.
Aguayo said building maintenance crews were called in to wipe down the residence hall's walls and doorways, which contained residue from the pepper spray.
At least one other student complained of feeling minor effects of the pepper spray, he said.
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