A Gainesville man was admitted to the hospital under the Baker Act on Monday night after he reportedly fought with a police officer.
According to a Gainesville Police report, Reshaud Lee Ford, 29, was found walking around after his mother told police he was not on his mental health medication and threatened to kill her.
Ford ran from police but soon turned around and ran toward an officer in a boxing stance, according to the report. Ford then punched the officer in the face. The two men continued to hit each other repeatedly, eventually slamming into the side of the patrol car. The officer tripped Ford and the two fell to the ground, hitting their heads on the concrete. Ford continued to fight the officer until another one arrived and used his Taser on Ford. He was then handcuffed and taken to UF Health Shands just after 6 p.m. with an 8-inch cut on his head.
Gainesville Police spokesman Officer Ben Tobias said any time an officer approaches a mentally ill person, the goal is to use as little force as possible.
“There’s no blanket way to handle this. Each case is going to be different because each person is different,” Tobias said. “Officers will use the least amount of force possible, but mentally impaired people will sometimes have superhuman strength. They don’t feel a lot of the consequences that other people will feel.”
A physician at Shands invoked the Baker Act on Ford, which allows for involuntary health treatment if a person appears to be mentally ill or a danger to themselves or others. While police can invoke the Baker Act, Tobias said officers generally leave the decision to doctors.
As of Tuesday, Ford remained in the Baker Act facility. He will be charged with battery on a law enforcement officer through a sworn complaint, according to police.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 1/28/2015 under the headline “Police: Man fights with officer, committed under Baker Act"]
