Cops arrest man who had been punching mailboxes. But first they had to shoot him with stun guns four times

Police had to use stun guns on a Bradenton man not once, not twice, but four times before he could be taken into custody after an incident early Thursday morning.

A Bradenton police officer on patrol just before 12:30 a.m. could hear screaming from down the street. Izra Nowitzke, 40, shirtless and bleeding from his head, was pacing and yelling outside a home in the 1500 block of 19th Street West, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The man at the home told police he didn’t know Nowitzke, but Nowitzke came up to him, started calling him names and hit him with a beer he was holding. Nowitzke punched the man’s mailbox and stood in the street, still shouting threats. The man was not injured, according to police.

Officers on the scene tried to talk to Nowitzke, who lives a couple of blocks down the street, and calm him down. But he did not respond to several orders to get on the ground, according to the affidavit.

Instead, Nowitzke ran from officers, one of whom fired a stun gun at him. It had no effect. A second officer’s attempt still did not stop Nowitzke, who ripped the probes off his skin and continued running down the street, according to police.

All the while, Nowitzke continued to punch mailboxes off their posts as he ran and even knocked off a side-view mirror from a vehicle.

Officers took off after Nowitzke until he suddenly stopped, turned and started running straight toward the officers, yelling that he would kill them, according to the affidavit.

Officers again pulled out their stun guns. The third stun did nothing to stop Nowitzke, however, the fourth and final attempt incapacitated him, the affidavit stated.

Police were able to take Nowitzke into custody, where he told police the man he was yelling at “jumped him.” He also continued to threaten to kill the police.

“Y’all don’t got (stuff) that can slow me down,” he said, according to the affidavit. “Next time, I’ll have a pit bull to kill you and the police dogs.”

Police also quoted him as saying: “Once I do some steroids I’ll be real ferocious.”

Officers also noted alcohol was involved in the incident.

Nowitzke was booked into the Manatee County jail on charges of aggravated assault on an officer, simple battery and resisting an officer without violence. He was being held without bond.

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Cops arrest man who had been punching mailboxes. But first they had to shoot him with stun guns four times."