Austin officers assaulted in weekend incidents

Two suspects booked into the Travis County Jail.

A man is facing a first-degree felony charge after he dragged a police officer 20 feet with his vehicle as he tried to drive away from a traffic stop in Southeast Austin early Sunday, a police report says.

Hansel Zaragoza, 22, was charged with aggravated assault on a public servant.

Austin police pulled Zaragoza over shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday. The officers had clocked his vehicle traveling at 62 mph in a 35 mph zone, the report said. When the officer approached the vehicle, he noticed what appeared to be a handgun on the floorboard between the driver’s feet. The officer also noticed a shiny cylinder in the rear of the handle and recognized that it was a pellet gun, the report says.

While speaking with Zaragoza, the officer reported, he could smell alcohol and Zaragoza’s eyes were bloodshot, watery and glassy. Zaragoza was asked to exit the vehicle multiple times but refused to get out, the report says.

With the driver’s door already open, Williams reached inside the vehicle to unfasten the Zaragoza’s seat belt to get him out of the vehicle, the report says. But Zaragoza put the car in drive and began to pull away with Williams still halfway inside the vehicle, according to the report.

A second officer pulled his gun and pointed it at Zaragoza’s head, commanding him to stop the vehicle, the report says, and Zaragoza hit the brakes.

Williams suffered an abrasion to his left shin, according to the affidavit.

Zaragoza was booked into the Travis County Jail with bail set at $25,000.

A second man also faces a felony charge after he struck a police officer on the side of the head and attempted to put the officer into a choke hold just before 9 p.m. Saturday, an arrest affidavit says.

Austin police responded to the home in Southeast Austin for a possible criminal trespass. The property manager, who called police, said the home was being repaired and no one was supposed to be on the premises.

Officers made contact with the man, who originally identified himself as Joseph Juarez, 30, and claimed he had a Texas identification card and driver’s license, the report says. Officers could not find his name in a Department of Public Safety database and instead matched his mug shot with a Texas driver’s license under the name Jose Ignacio Juarez Jr., 30, the report says.

Officers found Juarez to have a warrant out for his arrest for a robbery in April and asked him to place his hands behind his back, but Juarez tried to run, the report says.

Both the officer and Juarez fell to the ground. As they scuffled, Juarez struck the officer and tried to choke him, the report says.

Juarez was booked into the Travis County Jail with four charges including a new warrant for robbery, assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest and failure to identify fugitive. Bail was set at $25,000, $7,500, $3,000 and $3,000, respectively.