By Roger Lanse

Friday, Mar. 15, 2024, at approximately 10:22 p.m., Bayard Police Department officers were dispatched to 225 Erie Street in Bayard in reference to a 55-year-old male caller advising his roommate was threatening to cut his head off with a knife. Arriving at the residence, officers knocked on the door and made contact with a male, later identified as Christopher Sturdevant, 56, who aggressively swung the door open and began cursing at the officers.

According to a BPD incident report, the suspect refused to identify himself saying the victim had told him "to get the f*** out." The suspect continued to refuse to identify himself, and after officers gained entry into the residence, he ran up the stairs, despite being given multiple commands to stop and walk toward the officers. Unable to see if the suspect was clear of any weapons, a taser was deployed, the prongs striking the suspect's left arm and thigh. At that point, the suspect was handcuffed and identified. Sturdevant was placed under arrest, charged with resisting, evading, or obstructing an officer and concealing identity.

The victim told officers, the report said, that he was asleep in his room when he was awakened by Sturdevant yelling at him and threatening to rip the victim's head off. Subsequently, the victim locked himself in his room and contacted the Grant County Regional Dispatch Authority.

Sturdevant was transported to the Gila Regional Medical Center to be evaluated for a small laceration on his forehead and minor injuries from taser deployment, and then to Grant County Detention Center for holding.

Sturdevant was released from GCDC, according to staff there, on Mar. 16, under a $200 unsecured bond on each of the two charges.