MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake man was sentenced for assaulting a Moses Lake police officer during a mid-October confrontation.

Suede Shuttle, 22, of Moses Lake, pleaded guilty in Grant County Superior Court to third-degree assault. Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz followed a joint recommendation between Deputy Prosecutor Kevin McCrae and defense attorney Robert Kentner and sentenced Shuttle to four months of confinement. Shuttle was initially charged with two counts of third-degree assault, but one of the charges was dropped in a plea agreement between McCrae and Kentner.

On Oct. 16 the Moses Lake Police Department received a report of a trespassing incident at a gas station in the 1700 block of East Kittleson Road. Initial reports indicated the suspect, Shuttle, was asked to leave the property several times and not to drink alcohol on the premises. Shuttle was also said to have been asking customers to purchase alcohol for him, according to court records.

When Shuttle was contacted in the Starbucks parking lot by MLPD officers he claimed all he was doing was asking people to buy him alcohol. As he was being questioned, Shuttle approached a MLPD officer and was stopped. He proceeded to pull a “blunt object” out of his pocket, which was later discovered to be a large butane lighter.

The defendant was taken to the ground by police, where he refused to get onto his stomach. Shuttle continued to resist and was given a short burst of pepper spray to his face. He continued resisting even after being pepper-sprayed.

“I believed Suede was attempting to flip over to assault us. About that time I began trying to pry his right arm from under him. Suede started kicking violently striking me more than once in my thighs while I was in the kneeling position,” wrote a officer.

Officers were finally forced to tase Shuttle twice to gain control over him and place him into handcuffs. Emergency personnel transported Shuttle to Samaritan Hospital for treatment, as he had a cut over his right eye and complained his face was burning from the pepper spray. While at Samaritan Hospital, a officer noted Shuttle was carrying on a conversation with a person he believed was in a room with him, despite being in the room alone.

“Suede was not very large in stature but he was extremely strong for his size and his pain tolerance was very high. During our interaction with Suede he was very erratic and combative,” wrote a officer. “Judging by Suede’s behavior I believe he was under the influence of some narcotic, possibly methamphetamine.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.