Mesa Man Reportedly Tries to Hit Cop With His Cane; Then Gets Beat Up

To say that 64-year-old Roy Berneburg had a rough day would be putting things mildly.

He started Tueseday morning at the hospital, got in a fight with a cop later, and ended his day back in the hospital, which is generally the case when you try to fight with police. Oh yeah, then he got arrested.

According to an incident report, Berneburg, a Mesa resident, needed to be escorted home from the Arizona Regional Medical Center early Tuesday because he was drunk and refused to leave after treatment.

Mesa police showed up and brought the man to his home near Country Club Drive and Broadway Road without incident.

About 8 p.m., neighbors heard somebody screaming for help inside of Berneburg’s apartment. They called police, and when officers entered, Berneburg must have forgotten he had been yelling for assistance, because, rather than allow the cops to help him, he opted to swear at them and swing his cane at an officer’s face.

The officer — who was coincidentally the same one who kindly escorted Berneburg back to his house earlier in the day — noticed two empty vodka bottles next to Berneberg’s couch.

After Berneburg tried to hit he cop with the cane, the officer punched Berneberg in the face twice, cuffed him, and had to bring him back to the hospital to be treated for cuts to his nose, according to the police reports.

This is when Berneburg must have felt some remorse.

While waiting at the hospital, still in handcuffs, Berneburg tried to apologize to the officer and pleaded with him to remove the cuffs.

Then the remorse must have worn off.

When the officer refused to remove the cuffs, Berneburg started yelling again and used his shackled hands to take a bloody bandage from his face and throw it at the officer.

Berneburg was arrested and charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.