On November 19 around 1 a.m. police responded to Mechanic Street in the village of Bath after receiving calls from multiple people stating a disorderly subject was yelling and playing loud music.
When officers arrived, they found a car running with its windows down and radio playing loudly. The vehicle was parked at a residence.
Officers went to the door of the house and were met by a male resident who was wielding a sledgehammer. Officers backed away and the man smashed the door window to the house.
Officers spoke to the person and were able to convince him to exit the house without the sledge hammer.
Police say the man appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, but officers were able to calm him down and issued him a warning for noise. The man refused to give officers his name, but did quiet down.
Officers remained nearby to monitor the situation and, within a few minutes, heard more loud noise coming from the residence.
They returned and found the man wearing a ballistic helmet and a body armor plate carrier decked out with knives, standing in his yard. The man assumed a fighting stance and resumed his belligerence toward officers, police said.
That’s when officers from the Bath Police Department were joined bid elutes from the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office. They approached the man at gunpoint and with tasers drawn.
They issued him verbal commands and physically restrained him before anyone was hurt. He was placed into handcuffs and taken into custody.
An officer’s eye glasses were damaged during the incident. The man continued to physically resist arrest and acted out physically and verbally.
The man was later identified as Antonio Steffon, 26, of Bath. He was charged with disorderly conduct, refusal to submit to arrest, and criminal mischief- all misdemeanors.
He will answer the charges at a later date.
“Situations like these can become deadly. I commend the officers’ performance in their duties to safely take this subject into custody without anyone getting hurt. They used teamwork, training, and good tactics to both de-escalate and effect the arrest of an intoxicated subject looking for a fight,” Chief Andrew Booth said.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected]