A man who was sleeping under a playground gets tased by Maricopa police
By: That was what Andrew Jamarcus Guajardo-Mickell, 23, told police Oct. 24 during his arrest at a Cobblestone Farms playground.
The remark came after Maricopa police wrestled Guajardo-Mickell to the ground and tased him as he resisted being arrest on a charge of public nuisance — sleeping in a public park.
The arrest followed a morning call about a man blocking children from the playground.
Maricopa Police Department released a bodycam video of the arrest to InMaricopa yesterday.
Cops responded to Cobblestone Farms and Struebing Drives just before 8 a.m. and found Guajardo-Mickell sleeping in chip mulch with a blanket over his head under playground equipment. A Cobblestone resident told police Guarjardo-Mickell was blocking his grandchildren from playing on the equipment, according to a probable cause statement.
Officers noted they had previously spoken with Guajarado-Mickell about 30 other times, many of which were for sleeping and urinating around the neighborhood.
Guajarado-Mickell refused medical attention and was booked into the Pinal County jail on two misdemeanor charges of public nuisance and resisting arrest.
Maricopa Municipal Court prosecutors on April 10 dismissed the resisting arrest charge. Two weeks ago, on June 26, a Maricopa judge issued a warrant for Guajardo-Mickell’s arrest after he failed to appear in court on the public nuisance charge.