Truck driver tased and maced after bizarre behavior at Walmart distribution center

Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) say that a truck driver is facing multiple charges after his erratic behavior led to an altercation with police at a Walmart location earlier this month.

Police say that 24 year old North Carolina-based truck driver Elijah E. Pacheco has been charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, DUI, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct.

The charges stem from a September 12 incident at Walmart distribution center in Bedford Township, Pennsylvania, local news outlet the Bedford Gazette reports.

Troopers were called to the scene around 10:30 p.m. by employees who said that Pacheco was displaying strange behavior, that he was unable to back his truck up to his trailer, and that he attempted to leave the facility without his trailer.

PSP Trooper Nickolas Luciano made contact with Pacheco, who initially refused to exit his truck. When he eventually did exit the truck, Luciano said that he was holding two cellphones. When Luciano asked Pacheco what was wrong, Pacheco told him that he was thirsty and intimidated by the size of the distribution center.

Luciano said that Pacheco mentioned that he had earlier noticed that the time was 9:11 p.m. and that he “felt God was delaying his truck being unloaded so he could continue to reflect” on the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

When Pacheco was asked to submit to a sobriety test, he reportedly refused and began filming police. When Pacheco refused to answer whether he would take the test and continued filming and narrating video, police attempted to place him in handcuffs.

While two troopers attempted to place him in handcuffs, Pacheco reportedly continued to resist arrest.

Luciano threatened to use his Taser on Pacheco and eventually deployed it after Pacheco went to his knees then stood back up several times.

Pacheco initially fell to the ground, then attempted to remove the Taser prongs from his body. He was tased a second time.

PSP says that Pacheco continued to resist arrest and was able to break free and escape from police.

Luciano says that he used Mace on Pacheco as he ran across the Walmart parking lot.

Pacheco was stopped at the facility gate by another trooper and a Walmart worker.

Pacheco was taken to a nearby hospital, where he refused a blood test.

Later, at a preliminary hearing, Luciano testified that he found an empty container of THC oil in Pacheco’s truck.

During the hearing, a Public Defender representing Pacheco said that there was no evidence that he was intoxicated and that his behavior could be the result of mental illness.

Pacheco is scheduled to appear for trial at the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas.