The latest domestic call involving a former Northampton man saw him getting hit with a Taser before injuring a borough police officer and crossing the Lehigh River, according to the police.
Gabriel Bracero, who turned 36 on Tuesday, was found in his old home in the 600 block of Main Street about 2:45 a.m. Feb. 4, police said. A resident dialed 911 to report him as an unwanted guest, relaying that she was hiding in a closet, court records say.
Bracero had fled from police following a domestic incident there involving his estranged wife last Oct. 8, and he returned there Jan. 30 and confronted two males who were present, police said.
Those previous cases remain pending in district court, and Bracero’s been in Northampton County Prison since his arrest Feb. 4, according to court records.
Northampton police officer Christopher Fredericks was aware of those prior incidents, and a felony warrant out for Bracero in the Jan. 30 incident, when he responded to the Main Street home, court records say. Being present at the home violated both a protection-from-abuse order and bail conditions imposed on Bracero following his arrest in the Oct. 8 incident, police said.
Attacker refuses to stay away from victim, police say
Fredericks arrived to find Bracero allegedly running in front of the home and gave chase in his patrol car. Bracero turned back toward the home, and Fredericks began pursuing him on foot, police said.
Bracero allegedly ignored commands to stop and jumped off an embankment across Main Street from the home.
Police from several departments, including a K-9 team from Bethlehem, responded to help search for Bracero.
Hours later, Fredericks found him lying beside a concrete wall at West 10th and Main Street, and again he ran off, police said.
Fredericks shot him in the back with his Taser, momentarily incapacitating him, police said. But while being taken into custody, Bracero began resisting arrest, causing Fredericks to lose his balance and fall down an embankment, suffering injuries to his hips and lower back, police said.
Bracero ran west toward the Lehigh River, which he crossed to the Coplay side in Lehigh County, police said; he was eventually taken into custody after having climbed into the rafters of an abandoned building.
Temperatures dipped to 18 degrees early Feb. 4 at nearby Lehigh Valley International Airport, according to National Weather Service data.
He was arraigned in the Feb. 4 incident on Tuesday afternoon before District Judge Robert Hawke, charged with felony aggravated assault and flight to avoid apprehension, in addition to two counts of misdemeanor resisting arrest.
Bracero was ordered held in lieu of $50,000 bail, on top of $100,000 bail in the Jan. 30 incident and $20,000 bail from last October.
A preliminary hearing in the latest arrest is tentatively scheduled Feb. 24 before Hawke.
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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