Video Captures Police Tasing Man High on PCP

A man who allegedly tore off his shirt and threw chairs at a Riverdale Park McDonald’s restaurant was unfazed by Taser and baton strikes because he was high on PCP, authorities said.

The suspect, Marcus Anthony Moycherilli, of the 4300 block of 17th Street in Northwest Washington, D.C., told police later that he had used the hallucinogen PCP. He was charged with two counts of assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to Riverdale Police.

Chief David Morris commended three of his patrol officers for their use of “considerable restraint and sound judgment while dealing with a violent suspect who later admitted to being under the influence of PCP.”

Police received a 9-1-1 call from a McDonald’s employee who reported a man inside the restaurant acting violently, yelling profanities and threatening the safety of the patrons.

Friday afternoon’s confrontation was captured on a video by customer Ricky Martinez, who later posted the footage to YouTube. Moycherielli reportedly returned to the fast-food spot on Kenilwoth Avenue the next day and was cited for trespassing.

Martinez wrote on YouTube that he first noticed Moycherielli talking to himself, then loudly banging on his table like a drum before the man began punching the table. Restaurant employees had called police at that point, but the suspect took off his shirt, threw chairs to the ground and slammed a wet floor sign to the ground before officers arrived.

Many of the patrons in the restaurant tried to ignore Moycherielli as he evaded an officer. As the Taser is used, screams and shouts can be heard, then the officer strikes the suspect twice with his baton on the lower back and legs as he repeatedly orders Moycherielli to the ground.

“He was oblivious to what was going on, he was oblivious to pain,” Chief Morris said. “He ignored the pain, the baton strikes had no effect.”

Off-camera a bystander can then be heard urging the suspect to “get down.” When Moycherielli ignores the orders, a second police officer knocks him to the floor from behind, but Moycherielli gets back up and is again zapped with the stun gun. After making his way outside, he is seen rolling on the pavement, stands again and is sprayed in the face with a chemical spray in the drive-through lane.

By the time a third officer arrives, the suspect is laying on the concrete bleeding, but resists being handcuffed. Inside, McDonald’s customers can be heard discussing the incident; one woman says police shouldn’t be blamed, another tells people to calm down; and one says “he was on drugs.”

Chief Morris applauded Martinez for filming much of the incident and narrating the suspect’s erratic behavoir. He says Martinez asked to meet the officers involve to thank them for keeping his family and other customers safe; Morris is setting up the meeting.

»Screenshot and YouTube video used by permission of Ricky Martinez/ViralHog.com