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Flagstaff officer injured in fight with naked suspect

Posted at 4:41 PM, Aug 01, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-01 20:49:00-04

Police arrested a Scottsdale man over the weekend after fighting with an officer responding to a report of a person behaving suspiciously.

An officer a neighborhood in the area of the intersection of S. Woodlands Village Boulevard and W. University Avenue and found a naked man in a wooded area nearby.

The man demanded the officer take his clothes off and told the officer to get on the ground, according to a release from the Flagstaff Police Department.

The suspect, identified as 25-year-old Stanley Barnes, started walking toward the officer and continued to advance despite warnings to stop.

The officer fired his Taser at Barnes, but it had no effect. The pair started fighting and rolled down a hill, police said. The officer was hurt during the fall and could not get up.

An off-duty Northern Arizona police officer, an off-duty DPS officer and another witness saw the fight and ran to help. The three tackled Barnes and held him down until more Flagstaff police officers arrived.

Barnes was taken to Flagstaff Medical Center and moved to the intensive care unit. Officials said it appeared he was under the influence of bath salts or similar substance.

The officer was also hospitalized and treated for severe lacerations and bruising, police said.

Investigators later learned Barnes has a history of medical illness. 

It was not immediately clear if Barnes would be charged in the case.