Oregon man pleads not guilty in police stun gun case

EUGENE, Ore. — A Eugene man who got into a drunken altercation with police has pleaded not guilty.

Jesse Wright is charged with assault on a public safety officer, illegal use of a stun gun, resisting arrest and criminal trespass.

Wright was arrested Feb. 23 outside a downtown bar where he had been celebrating his 30th birthday.

Officers said they went to the bar because Wright had been disruptive and was told to leave. They said Wright became combative, and during the ensuing struggle Wright forced an officer’s stun gun back on the officer.

Wright’s supporters told The Register-Guard he was not resisting arrest. They said he suffered a major seizure and officers mistook his involuntary spasms for resistance.

The officer hit with the stun gun was temporarily incapacitated.