He was drying marijuana plants in a Richland park. He didn’t go down without a fight, say police

A 56-year-old man is accused of trying to rip a Taser device from an officer’s hand after he was found drying marijuana plants in a Richland public park.

William G. Streb Jr. first tried to peel back one officer’s thumb from the electroshock weapon, then violently twisted the fingers of another officer who was helping to break up the scuffle, according to court documents.

The Taser, which reportedly was activated three times, had little effect on Streb during the Oct. 29 incident, documents said.

The Pasco man has pleaded innocent in Benton County Superior Court to attempted disarming of a law enforcement officer, possession of marijuana over 40 grams and third-degree assault.

His trial is cheduled Dec. 10.

Police were called to James Lawless Park on a drug complaint, and found Streb standing at a picnic table holding “a large amount of marijuana stems in his arms,” said court documents.

There was an open bag full of suspected marijuana plants on the table, and several laid out drying on the ground, documents said.

When Streb was told he was being arrested for possessing marijuana, he allegedly grabbed the plants and took off running, ignoring the officer’s orders to stop.

It is not clear where the plants came from, or if they had been growing in the park that’s mostly covered in sagebrush and trees.

The long, narrow park is named after the late Superior Court Judge James Lawless, who was killed in 1974 when a pipe bomb was delivered to his chambers at the Franklin County Courthouse in Pasco.

The Richland park runs along Wellhouse Loop Road behind a long strip of businesses, including Richland Goodwill, Harbor Freight Tools and the Tri-Cities Food Bank, and is the site of a disc golf course.

The officer caught up with Streb and tackled him.

Streb began fighting the officer and he deployed his Taser and it had no effect, but a probe went into Streb’s leg on the second activation, documents said.

Streb allegedly tried to buck the officer off, which caused the officer to lose his balance and fall onto his left hand while holding the Taser.

Then Streb reportedly grabbed the officer’s hand and tried to take away the Taser, court documents said.

A second officer arrived and pulled Streb’s arm away from the weapon. Streb continued to resist and yell and then tried to break the second officer’s fingers, documents said.

Police eventually handcuffed Streb.

He is accused of having two small baggies of a crystal-like drug, and the marijuana plants weighed more than three kilograms, or at least 6 1/2 pounds, said documents.

Streb remains in jail in lieu of $2,500 bail.