LAYTON — A man described by police as being “disconnected from reality” was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly attacked two female police officers, pinning them to the ground.
Just before 5 a.m. Christmas morning, two Davis County sheriff’s deputies found Benisimani Pouha, 42, in a vehicle on U.S. 89 near state Route 193 that was stopped partially on the shoulder and partially in the travel lane, according to a police affidavit.
The deputies noticed drug paraphernalia in the passenger seat and began questioning Pouha.
“He was not able to speak clearly to articulate his name to me and during our conversation he repeatedly made exclamations as if to a person who was not there. He looked at me with glassy eyes and a blank stare as I spoke with him. Mr. Pouha appeared to be disconnected from reality based on his inability to follow the conversation and his intermittent exclamations to a non-existent being,” the deputy wrote in her affidavit.
Pouha was asked to step out of his car.
“He stared at me blankly for approximately 45 seconds before opening his door and stepping out,” the deputy noted.
Pouha then walked along the shoulder of the road toward a fence that divided the highway and a frontage road. Fearing he was going to make a run for it, the deputies attempted to stop Pouha, the affidavit states.
“He was able to pull away from us and we then went through the fence and followed him,” according to the report.
The arresting deputy noted in her affidavit that she is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 130 pounds and her partner is 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 100 pounds. Pouha is 6 feet tall and weighs 250 pounds.
Pouha pushed away one deputy as she attempted to tackle him, according to the affidavit. The other deputy then deployed a Taser on Pouha, causing him to fall to the ground.
But as both deputies attempted to put handcuffs on Pouha, he “began to fight both of us and pinned both of us to the ground,” the affidavit states. Pouha allegedly wrapped his arms around one of the deputy’s head and neck. The deputy “used multiple closed-fist strikes to his head in an attempt to free herself.”
When later reviewing her body camera video, a deputy saw that Pouha also attempted to take her Taser, the affidavit states.
After freeing themselves, the deputies said Pouha again started walking away from them. A backup officer arrived and a Taser was used for a second time. That time, he was successfully handcuffed.
Deputies said they later discovered that Pouha was driving on a learner’s permit and the car he was driving had a revoked registration.
He was arrested for investigation of a number of charges including assault on a police officer, disarming a police officer, drug possession and failing to stop at the command of an officer.
Benisimani Pouha is listed on the Utah Sex Offender and Kidnapping Registry, as well as in court records, as Penisimani Pouha. In 1996, he was charged with 15 counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated sexual assault, all first-degree felonies. He was convicted of six counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated sexual assault, according to court records.