Good Samaritans stop to help sheriff’s sergeant struggling with suspect

Two good Samaritans stopped to help a Stanislaus County sheriff’s sergeant who was trying to detain a combative suspect in Riverbank on Wednesday morning.

At about 9:30 a.m., the sergeant was flagged down by a motorist on Claribel Road, west of Coffee Road. The motorist said a man was walking in the middle of Claribel and appeared to be under the influence, according to Riverbank Police Services chief, Lt. Erin Kiely.

Around the same time, dispatchers received a call from another witness regarding a man in the the middle of the road.

The sergeant found the suspect, who was showing signs of being under the influence of a controlled substance. The man was hostile and refused the sergeant’s orders to keep his hands out of his pockets, Kiely said.

At one point, the suspect told the sergeant, “You have that badge; I’ll f------ kill you.”

As the sergeant attempted to pat down the suspect, he reached toward the sergeant, so the sergeant took him to the ground, Kiely said.

The suspect continued to try to fight, kicking and trying to get up as the sergeant worked to handcuff him.

Two good Samaritans driving by stopped and helped restrain the suspect until other deputies arrived.

The suspect, 38-year-old Cesar Tovar, was eventually detained. He was examined by paramedics for abrasions to his head that he suffered during the scuffle before being taken to jail on charges of felony resisting arrest and misdemeanor being under the influence of a controlled substance.

The sergeant was not injured.

A post about the incident on the Riverbank Police Services Facebook page reads, “We would very much like to thank those individuals who stopped to help. We just want everyone to keep in mind that your safety comes first, however we remain very grateful for the support of our community.”

This story was originally published January 4, 2017 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Good Samaritans stop to help sheriff’s sergeant struggling with suspect."