PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Newly obtained court documents are revealing more about the timeline of events that led to a Phoenix police officer being assaulted while responding to a disturbance in south Phoenix.
Officers responded to a fight around 1:15 p.m. on Friday at a Dollar General store near 19th and Southern avenues after the store manager had told the suspect, now identified as 51-year-old Joseph Huggins, to leave the area because he was panhandling near the entrance. Investigators say Huggins became upset and punched the closed doors while yelling at the manager.
One officer responded and was directed to Huggins, who was reportedly walking from the Dollar General to the nearby Family Dollar, and that officer asked him to come towards her. At that point, authorities say he became aggressive and began yelling and cursing about his encounter with the Dollar General manager, adding that he was “not an American,” but “he was Israeli.”
During the interaction, court paperwork details that Huggins began pacing side-to-side and swinging his arms. At one point, he started yelling and stepped toward the officer, squaring his body in an “aggressive way.”…