Robert Lopez
KINGSBURG – A naked man was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon after he threw a glass bottle and then a knife at a Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy on Wednesday.
Robert Lopez, 37, of Kingsburg, was booked into the Fresno County Jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, resisting arrest and a misdemeanor for indecent exposure.
A deputy was dispatched to the 400 block of 6th Avenue Drive in Kingsburg regarding Lopez, who was watering his lawn while naked. Because Lopez was known to be hostile toward law enforcement, a Kingsburg police officer was requested to assist on the call, the sheriff’s office said.
The deputy and officer found Lopez in his yard drinking beer and he refused the deputy’s demand that he put some clothes on, the sheriff’s office said.
Lopez allegedly cursed at the deputy and threw the glass beer bottle at him, but the bottle hit the chain link fence that the deputy was standing behind for protection. Lopez threatened to get a gun and shoot the deputy, at which point more deputies were dispatched to the scene due to the escalating nature of the situation, the sheriff’s office said.
Lopez put on a pair of shorts, went inside his home and came out holding a knife with an 8-inch blade, the sheriff’s office said.
“Lopez took about 10 steps toward the deputy and the deputy ordered him to stop and drop the knife or he would be shot,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Lopez dropped the knife, but then picked it up again “and threw it at the deputy, but again it only hit the fence that the deputy was standing behind,” the sheriff’s office said.
After Lopez walked closer to the fence and threw another beer bottle toward the deputies, an assisting deputy fired a bean bag round from his less than lethal shotgun, striking Lopez in the stomach, authorities said.
Lopez fell to the ground and deputies were able to place him in handcuffs. Following a trip to the hospital for evaluation, Lopez was booked into jail.
