The suspect in an alleged police assault was arraigned from his hospital bed Tuesday after an officer opened fire on him last week.
SDPD officers tased and shot suspect Malcolm Cookson, 47, in Mira Mesa Friday night after he allegedly threatening to throw a 9-pound rock at them.
Cookson was arraigned Tuesday from his hospital bed, pleading not guilty to three counts brought against him -- two counts of assault on a police officer and one count of felony vandalism stemming from a December incident in which he allegedly drove his car into a neighbor's home.
According to the San Diego Police Department, officers responded to a domestic violence disturbance at a residence in the 8800 block of Scorpius Way and Bootes Street at around 8:40 p.m. Friday.
A woman had called police to report that she was allegedly being attacked by her husband. The woman also told police her husband had threatened to attack officers when they arrived so the officers would shoot him, SDPD officials said.
When police arrived at the scene, Cookson exited the home and walked into the street. Officers could see he was holding some sort of object in his hand, but due to the rain and poor lightning conditions, they couldn’t identify the object.
SDPD officials say that’s when officers gave the man verbal commands to drop whatever he was carrying. The man allegedly ignored those commands and raised the object above his head while making verbal threats toward officers.
Authorities later learned that Cookson was holding a 9-pound rock above his head and did not heed officers' commands to put to rock down, according to Assistant District Attorney Dan Link.
An officer then deployed his service taser on Cookson, but it didn’t appear to affect him. Police say Cookson continued to advance on the officers in a threatening manner.
Fearing an assault, a second officer fired his duty weapon, striking Cookson. He then fell to the ground and dropped the rock.
Medics transported the man to Scripps Memorial Hospital.
The officers on scene were not injured in this incident. SDPD officials confirmed that the officer involved in the shooting is a 12-year veteran of the Department. His name was not released.
