VISTA (CBS 8) - The man accused of biting a Sheriff's Deputy during a rampage caught on camera answered to criminal charges on Wednesday.
Prosecutors said 30-year-old Casey Clason bit the deputy after pouring soda on himself inside a 7-Eleven store in the 800 block of East Vista Way on Sunday.
"The clerk told emergency dispatchers the suspect, later identified as Casey Clason, walked into the store and emptied a two liter bottle of soda onto his head and threw it at the store window before walking out," according to Capt. Charles Cinnamo.
"Deputies responded and contacted Clason in the parking lot of a nearby church with his arms wrapped around a flag pole."
The deputies noticed that Clason's face had blood on it but they did not know the cause, according to Cinnamo. Clason ignored deputies and walked away from them.
Cinnamo said that based on the clerk's statements and Clason's behavior, deputies believed Clason was possibly under the influence of drugs or alcohol and clearly a danger to himself or others and attempted to detain him.
"Clason immediately became violent and attempted to kick deputies while on his back. Deputies deployed their taser devices and pepper spray multiple times with no effect on Clason," Cinnamo said. "When deputies tried to place Clason in handcuffs he grabbed one of the deputies by the leg and bit him."
Deputies struggled with Clason in an attempt to make him release his bite on the deputy. Several deputies responded and they were eventually able to take Clason into custody, Cinnamo said.
Clason faces two counts of felony assault on a deputy, being under the influence of a controlled substance and violating the terms of his probation.
He is expected to be back in court on May 5, 2017.
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