By Jim Smith

Main:Eagle Staff Writer

A suspected drugged driver is accused of trying to attack a police officer who moments earlier helped revive him.

But before they arrested 42-year-old William H. Anderson of Butler, city officers said they had to use a Taser on him.

Butler police Tuesday charged Anderson in connection with the July 14 arrest.

Officers said they found the defendant about 12:30 a.m. passed out behind the wheel of a running flat-bed truck that was pulled onto the sidewalk in the 500 block of Federal Street.

The suspect was unconscious, according to court documents, and the music in the vehicle was “blaring.”

Patrolman Myles Bizub managed to awaken Anderson, who became combative with the officer. Police said the suspect refused to get out of the truck.

When Bizub tried to pull him out, Anderson tried to hit the officer, documents said. Bizub drew his Taser and ordered the suspect to get out.

The officer deployed the stun gun device but the defendant cursed at him and stayed in the truck.

Anderson eventually surrendered, police said, after Bizub reloaded another cartridge into his Taser. Following his arrest, the suspect allegedly gave police a bogus name.

Officers took him to Butler Memorial Hospital for a blood test. Toxicology reports subsequently showed he had a metabolite indicating heroin use, documents said.

Anderson is charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and false identification to police.