An Augusta man was tasered in the face after allegedly slicing up campaign signs and fighting efforts by deputies to arrest him, according to authorities.
Michael Ivey, 28, of Augusta, was charged Thursday with felony obstruction of an officer and misdemeanor criminal trespass.
The suspect was tracked down early Thursday after allegedly cutting up signs in the front yard of School Board trustee Patsy Scott’s house and other signs outside Henry Brigham Community Center. It was almost 4 in the morning, a sheriff’s report says.
An alert deputy spotted Ivey near the Community Center and alerted another officer, who commanded Ivey to stop. But the suspect ran toward a nearby fence outside Medical Associate on Golden Camp Road and tried to climb it.
Deputy Johnathan Mathis grabbed the suspect’s right leg and fought efforts to stop his retreat over the fence. When other deputies arrived, Ivey swung at the deputies after he was warned he would be tasered.
“Deputy Brown and Deputy Cheillada deployed their tasers, making contact with Ivey,” a report says. “Ivey fell to the ground, stood up and began to run towards Golden Camp Road.”
Officers quickly caught Ivey and realized one of the taser probes was stuck in his left cheek. He was taken to Augusta University Medical Center, where medical staff removed the probe.
Ivey reportedly told officers that he used a knife to slice up campaign signs because he was tired of politics. School trustee Patsy Scott told deputies that the suspect cut up her personal campaign signs in her yard on Gibson Drive. She is running for re-election to the Richmond County Board of Education, a non-partisan race.
It’s unclear what signs he targeted outside the Henry Brigham Community Center, but that area is widely considered to be heavily Democrat. The Augusta region has had several reports of vandalism or theft of campaign signs, including multiple reports of Trump signs being stolen in Columbia County.
Ivey remained in jail Sunday night on a $10,300 bond.
