An Elizabethton man faces multiple charges after police say he pulled out a knife while struggling with officers who stopped the vehicle he was a passenger in.
Officers of the Elizabethton Police Department arrested Jonathan Berical, 22, 1270 Bluefield Ave., Elizabethton, on Monday afternoon and charged him with aggravated assault on an officer, resisting arrest, criminal trespass, possession of drug paraphernalia, and simple possession of Schedule III drugs.
Shortly after 3 p.m. on Monday, two officers with the Elizabethton Police Department were patrolling the area of Lynnwood and Lynnridge Apartments when they saw a vehicle and identified the passenger as Berical.
“I have received numerous complaints regarding possible drug use involving Berical, and I also had knowledge of an existing warrant for his arrest issued in Carter County General Sessions Court,” an undercover EPD officer said in a police report on the incident. “I have also received numerous complaints regarding Berical being on the property although he has been trespassed from the property.”
The officers then stopped the vehicle and the undercover officer said identified himself as a police officer and ordered Berical to show his hands to officers and not move.
“Berical immediately stuck his right hand into his right pocket,” the undercover officer said. “I grabbed his hand and again ordered him not to move. He then began to resist and I observed him place a white container next to his seat.”
Officers ordered Berical to stop resisting and to exit the vehicle but he continued to struggle with officers, the undercover officer said. Officers were able to remove Berical from the car and place him up against a police car.
“I observed him reach for his pocket again. I then observed he had a folding knife in his had,” the undercover officer said, adding officers took Berical to the ground and the knife fell out of his hand.
The undercover officer said Berical continued to struggle and “showed signs of being under the influence of some type of drug.”
After securing Berical in handcuffs, the undercover officer said the white container Berical had placed next to his seat was examined and found to contain a Schedule III drug. A search of Berical’s person revealed he was in possession of “a metal container containing a kit used to inject controlled substances,” the undercover officer said. The vehicle’s owner gave officers permission to search the car and officers reported finding several items of drug paraphernalia in the car.
The undercover officer said Berical suffered “scrapes to his right elbow” while he was resisting and those injuries were treated by medical staff at the Carter County Detention Center after Berical was transported there. One of the officers involved suffered scrapes to his hand during the struggle as well, the undercover officer said.