Beaver Dam man sentenced to prison for headbutting officer, injuring another during arrest

BEAVER DAM, Wis. — A 27-year-old Beaver Dam man was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison Thursday for injuring two officers last fall.

Jessie Garcia was sentenced on two counts of battery or threat to an officer and resist or obstruct officer causing substantial bodily harm,  according to a news release from District Attorney Kurt Klomberg’s office. He will also serve eight years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

Watertown officers originally arrested Garcia on suspicion of an OWI and resisting officers following an incident in September 2019. He was released from custody, but officials said he almost immediately got back into his vehicle while intoxicated and drove from Watertown to Beaver Dam.

Officers caught up to Garcia, but police said he became uncooperative. The officers broke the driver’s side window and removed Garcia from his vehicle after he reached for a knife, the release said. Officials said one of the officers was injured in the process.

Garcia headbutted a second officer twice while police attempted to escort him into the back of the squad car, according to the release.

The state Department of Corrections investigated the case and recommended probation without jail, which Klomberg deemed as an “outrageous” suggestion.

“I am seeing an alarming number of threats and assaults directed toward our police,” Klomberg said in Dodge County Circuit Court. “These men and women leave their homes and families every day to put their lives on the line to protect the rest of us. When one is threatened or assaulted, the courts need to act to send a clear message that threatening or harming an officer will result in stern and serious punishment.”

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