Homeless man cleared in scuffle with officer

Jun. 22—SALEM — In an era when many confrontations between police and the public are on video that can be shown to a jury, the one between Salem Patrolman Ryan Arundel and a homeless man in 2019 named Daniel Jacques, which left the officer with a broken hand, was not.

And that was a key part of Jacques' defense during his trial Monday on charges of assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct — charges for which he was found not guilty late Monday afternoon.

"It didn't show what they wanted it to show," Jacques' defense attorney, John Morris, told the Salem District Court jury in his closing argument. "That's why you didn't see it."

Prosecutor April Pagliarulo called that argument "a smokescreen" to distract the jury from the fact that, according to Arundel's testimony, it was Jacques, now 41, who made the first move by lunging at the officer while saying, "I've been waiting for you," as Arundel went to check on him.

The incident occurred on the afternoon of Dec. 30, 2019, as Arundel, a member of the Salem Police Department's community impact unit, was starting his shift.

Arundel testified that he drove past a bus shelter in front of Walgreens on New Derby Street and saw a group of mostly homeless people. In 2019, police had been called to that shelter 164 times for issues like drinking and drug use, public urination and aggressive panhandling. After dealing with the group in the shelter (which has since been removed), Arundel spotted a man bent over and leaning against a wall, he testified.

But when he got about an arm's length from the man, in those pre-pandemic days, Arundel testified that Jacques suddenly lunged at him. Arundel grabbed Jacques, who police believed to have been intoxicated, and took him to the pavement. A struggle ensued, during which Jacques got hold of Arundel's vest, pulled him down, and began punching the officer in the side.

Arundel responded, punching Jacques several times in an attempt to get him to let go of the vest. One of those punches landed on the sidewalk.

The officer suffered six fractures to three bones in his right hand, injuries that kept him out of work for a time and still cause soreness.

No injuries to Jacques were documented.

Jacques was arrested and charged and has been held on $1,000 bail since.

A prior attorney representing Jacques had filed a motion a day after his arraignment, asking police to preserve all street camera video from the time of the incident.

But the then-new police prosecutor, Lt. John Burke, said he believed the court's order was to simply preserve evidence. Burke testified that he was told there was no footage depicting the incident. The footage from the cameras was later overwritten.

But both Burke and Arundel testified that they were told none of the cameras in the area, one directly across the street at Klop Alley, another in Riley Plaza and a third at the Salem Fire Department headquarters, were pointed or captured the location of the incident that afternoon — though there were some discrepancies in their testimony as to where the cameras were aimed.

Arundel said he was told the Klop Alley camera was facing Artist's Row, while Burke believed it was facing Howling Wolf Taqueria. Arundel also believed the Riley Plaza camera was aimed at the intersection of Washington and New Derby, while Burke thought it was focused on an array of flagpoles where residents of the nearby Lifebridge Shelter like to gather.

Arundel said the unit he's part of works with the shelter, and community services agencies that provide mental health and substance abuse treatment, whenever possible.

A store camera mounted above the entrance to Walgreens also did not capture any part of the incident, police said.

Pagliarulo, in her closing, acknowledged the lack of video, but suggested that it was a distraction.

Judge Randy Chapman granted a motion for a required finding of not guilty on the resisting arrest charge, on the grounds that Jacques hadn't been told he was under arrest.

After about 40 minutes of deliberation, the jury found Jacques not guilty on the charges of assault and battery on a police officer and disorderly conduct.

Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis.