Combative EMS Patient Arrested for Assaulting an Officer, Resisting Arrest

(New Braunfels, TX) -- A man identifying himself as a Manor Volunteer Firefighter gave New Braunfels Police and EMS a rough time last week during an incident at the Schlitterbahn Resort property.

Around 2pm Thursday, EMS units were called to the scene for reports of a man who had fallen and injured himself. They arrived and began treating the man, who was described as combative, belligerent, and resistant.

So police officers were called in. They observed that the man was unsteady on his feet and very aggressive, yelling obscenities, and in general creating a scene, with a large group of onlookers gathering nearby.

The medics and officers tried to get the man to sit down, but he refused, and so the officer told him that he would be placing him in handcuffs, which according to the officer, further enraged the man. That’s when the man allegedly shoved the officer in the chest, causing him to fall into a nearby rock wall. That officer, and another on the scene, then got into a physical altercation with the man as they tried to place him under arrest.

But the suspect then allegedly began trying to punch the officers, swinging his fists at their faces and heads. The two officers, with the help of the 3 medics, and a couple of members of Schlitterbahn security where finally able to get the man on the ground and in handcuffs.

The officers sustained minor injuries to their hands and arms and were treated by EMS at the scene.

The suspect, identified as 20-year old Christopher Ethridge of Austin, was first taken to Christus New Braunfels Hospital where he was medically cleared. He was then taken to the Comal County Jail and booked for assaulting a police officer and for resisting arrest. His bond was set at 10-thousand-500-dollars which he posted on Friday and was released.