Police use Taser on East Vandergrift man during struggle

Police used a Taser on an East Vandergrift man charged with stealing a motorcycle after he tried to wrestle the weapon away from an officer, according to authorities.

Vandergrift officers went to John William Ebner’s McKinley Avenue home around 8 p.m. on Sept. 16 to execute a warrant for his arrest in connection with the theft of a motorcycle from a home on Franklin Avenue between Aug. 30 and Sept. 3, according to a criminal complaint.

Ebner, 33, told officers that “there’s not supposed to be warrants” for his arrest and became “extremely upset and began yelling violently,” police wrote in the complaint.

Ebner then told officers that he had just arrived home and that he had “not eaten and needs to take a shower.”

He told the officers to “come back in an hour,” the complaint said.

When the officers informed Ebner that he was going to be taken into custody and would get some food to eat while on the way to jail, “he continued to escalate his anger and screaming,” the complaint said.

To try to avoid arrest, Ebner sat on the ground cross-legged, held his biceps and tensed his muscles, the officers said.

He rebuffed their efforts to calm him down.

When Officer Christian Disciscio told Ebner he would be struck with a Taser if he failed to comply, Ebner grabbed the weapon and tried to wrestle it away, the complaint said.

Disciscio then unholstered the weapon and ordered Ebner onto his stomach, but he refused and again tried to get his hands on the Taser, according to the complaint.

When Ebner walked away and told officers that he was not going to allow them to arrest him, Disciscio deployed the Taser and struck Ebner in the back.

Ebner continued to struggle with Disciscio and another officer after the Taser cycle ended, but they were able to place him in handcuffs and take him into custody.

Ebner was charged with a felony count of disarming a law enforcement officer as well as resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

A preliminary hearing on the charges has not yet been scheduled before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yacopec.

Ebner faces a Sept. 28 preliminary hearing before the judge on the charges related to the motorcycle theft, which include counts of burglary, theft, fraud, receiving stolen property and other related offenses.

Ebner did not have a attorney listed in court documents for either case.