TITUSVILLE, Fla. – A school resource officer took down a trespasser on campus but the suspect didn’t go down without a fight, according to the Titusville Police Department.
Police said the officer was at South Lake Elementary School Thursday around 1:45 p.m. when an employee told him there was a man hanging out by a dumpster behind the campus who refused to leave.
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Records show the SRO tried to approach the man, identified as 40-year-old Jesus Marrero, but Marrero started to speed walk away and wouldn’t follow the officer’s commands to stop.
Since he wouldn’t comply, the officer said he grabbed Marrero’s arm, which in turn caused Marrero to pull away and take an aggressive stance.
According to the affidavit, the SRO used a take down maneuver to get Marrero on the ground to try to handcuff him but Marrero kept pulling away and trying to get back up until eventually he was on his feet.
Records show the struggle continued and as the the SRO got Marrero back on the ground, Marrero began hitting and kicking him and grabbed the officer’s wrist as he was trying to deploy a Taser.
A second officer arrived on scene and the two were eventually able to get Marrero in handcuffs, according to the affidavit.
The report said Marrero was not a school employee or the father of one of the students so it’s unclear why he was on campus.
He’s facing charges of trespassing on school property and resisting arrest with violence.