Former renter who assaulted officers at condemned house charged with felonies
Booking photo provided by the Zanesville Police Department
January 7, 2020
The man who assaulted police officers after refusing to leave a condemned house on Eppley Avenue has been charged with multiple felonies.
After assaulting officers when found inside a structure he was ordered to vacate, Michael Perdue has been charged with one fifth-degree felony count of breaking and entering and four fourth-degree felony counts of assault on a peace officer, according to Captain Scott Comstock with the Zanesville Police Department.
Perdue was arraigned Monday morning in the Zanesville Municipal Court. His bond was set at $75,000. Due to their felonious nature, Perdue’s charges will be presented to a grand jury Wednesday to indict him on all five felonies.
The residence where Perdue was found, located at 1214 Eppley Ave., has now been condemned for the third time since Oct. 1 when Perdue was ordered to vacate the structure for the first time due to the house not having electricity.
Following the Oct. 1 condemnation posting, Perdue returned to the house and removed the posting which prompted another notice to be posted on Dec. 31.
On the evening of Jan. 2, the homeowners were checking on the property when they noticed the door was open and believed the former tenant was possibly inside, Public Safety Director Keane Toney said the night of the incident.
When officers arrived, Perdue began taunting officers from inside the residence and refused to exit the structure.
After sending a K-9 officer into the home, Perdue became more aggressive with law enforcement.
One officer was struck in the head, another sustained a hand injury and one officer was bitten by Perdue, among other bumps and abrasions caused by Perdue.
Two officers went to the hospital and others were treated on scene. Perdue also received medical attention on scene.
Following his arrival at the city jail, Perdue was later taken to the hospital that evening when his head began bleeding. He has since been released from the hospital and returned to jail while he awaits prosecution.
According to Comstock, one officer that was struck in the head who sustained other abrasions has returned to duty after missing one day of work. The other officer that sustained a hand injury did break his hand, and Comstock said that officer will be off work for a length of time.
The remaining officers all returned to duty as scheduled.
Since the incident, 1214 Eppley Ave. remains condemned.
Phil smith • Jan 26, 2020 at 8:40 pm
The man was not in his right mind and is not competent to go to trial and if you treat all veterans that way Frontline will probably be somewhere in Zanesville
Phil smith • Jan 26, 2020 at 8:36 pm
I’m saying he wasn’t in his right mind I’m sure the sheriff department will realize this and it probably won’t go to trial person has to be confident in the right mind to go to trial.
Laura adams • Jan 9, 2020 at 1:57 pm
Phil Smith, just because he is a vet and has mental illness does not mean he can do whatever he wants.SMDH
Phil smith • Jan 9, 2020 at 12:29 am
Believe it or not my good man he is a veteran and supposed to take medication for some mental problems that was probably what was wrong he hadn’t had his medication in quite a while I know it’s hard to believe from the charges but he is actually a good person and has suffered a lot of depression from being in the service someone is fought for our country don’t deserve to be treated like that I wish him well