The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
5 years for minister’s wife who battled cop
She grabbed Lilburn officer’s Taser, pointed it at him, DA’s Office says.
The wife of a minister was sentenced Friday afternoon to five years in prison for taking an officer’s Taser and pointing it at him, according to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office.
Cristina Cruz, her husband and two of her sons got into a physical fight with Lilburn police officers March 25, 2018, according to investigators.
The officers went to the parking lot of the family’s church, Iglesia Cristiana Evangelica, where Cruz’s husband, Wilmer Cruz Sr., was a minister. They were searching for a teenage girl who had been reported missing.
The girl was dating one of the Cruz sons, according to police, and she was found in a car parked at the church.
But things quickly got out of hand. When officers tried to remove the girl from the car, the Cruz family fought them, according to police.
As an officer attempted to use his Taser on CruzSr., CristinaCruz grabbed the Taser and pointed it at the officer, the DA’s Office previously said.
She dropped it after the officer drew his gun and told her to let it go.
One officer had his head slammed against a church door and was choked by Cruz Sr., according to the DA’s Office.
A third officer arrived, and eventually all four family members, including one juvenile, were arrested.
In June, Cruz Sr. and Cruz Jr. both pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated assault of an officer. The father was sentenced to 10 years with 17 months to serve in prison, but he was expected to be deported for being in the United States illegally. It was not known Friday whether Cruz Sr. had already been deported.
Cruz Jr. was given first-offender status and sentenced to seven years of probation.
Cristina Cruz, 39, who opted to go to trial, was convicted in July of removing a weapon from a public official, aggravated assault on a peace officer, attempted removal of a weapon from a public official and willful obstruction of a law enforcement officer. She has been held at the Gwinnett jail since her conviction.