NASHVILLE, Tenn. -
A Metro police officer is recovering at home Thursday morning after he was brutally assaulted at an east Nashville gas station by a man who was acting erratically and refused to leave.
Officer Oscar Pacheco responded to the routine disorderly conduct call at the Citgo station on the corner of Fifth and Main streets around 11:45 p.m. Wednesday.
When he asked the suspect, 22-year-old Marquez Easley, to leave, Easley refused and a violent struggle ensued.
The convenience store clerk called 911 although it was several minutes before responding officers could pull Easley off Officer Pacheco and subdue and arrest him.
During the assault, Easley punched Officer Pacheco in the face, knocking him to the ground.
He then got on top of him and put both hands on his throat and tried to strangle him, according to the arrest report.
Easley also kicked a second officer, Sgt. Cy Hill, in the face when he tried to intervene.
Easley was not armed and there was no sign he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The motive for his behavior was not immediately known. It was also not known whether he frequented the business.
Easley, of Antioch, is jailed in lieu of a $233,000 bond on charges of attempted criminal homicide, assault on a police officer, disorderly conduct, attempted escape, resisting arrest and two counts of vandalism.
Easley was found guilty of criminal trespassing last October.
Officer Pacheco, 33, a three-year police department veteran, was treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center for blows to his head, scratches and bruises.
He is on routine administrative leave while he continues his recovery.
Officer Oscar Pacheco, 31, is a three-year police department veteran.
Marquez Easley, 22, is jailed in lieu of a $233,000 bond.
