A homeless Rossville man has been accused of breaking in a woman’s house and attacking a neighbor who came to her aid and East Ridge police officers responding to the call.
Matthew J. Rieder
Matthew James Rieder, 18, with no permanent address, is facing multiple charges of Aggravated Assault, two counts of Attempted Criminal Homicide and Aggravated Burglary, according to records from the Hamilton County Jail. He is due to appear in Municipal Court on January 5, 2016.
According to an affidavit of complaint, late Friday night officers were dispatched to the 1500 block of Burns Avenue on a disorder. While en route, the call was re-classified as a burglary in progress. When the first officer arrived he saw a man being assaulted in the street, “having his head and face slammed into the asphalt,” by a person later identified as Rieder, the report states.
The officer attempted to subdue the alleged attacker by using a taser, but it had little effect, the report states. The officer was given a pistol by the man being assaulted, with the officer being told that Rieder was trying to get the gun from the victim. Once the officer got the gun, the report states, he was attacked by Rieder, and the two began grappling for the pistol. The report states the officer was struck in the head with the pistol and lost consciousness for a brief time.
A second officer arrived and saw Rieger and the officer struggling. The report states the second officer then used a taser on the suspect, again to no avail. The second officer then grabbed Rieder and wrestled with him as two additional officers arrived and assisted in subduing the “extremely combative” suspect.
Rieder, the report states, continued to be belligerent once he was taken into custody, banging his head and feet against the glass and doors of the patrol car. The report states he spit blood on officers and first responders at the scene and continued such behavior at the hospital. He was ultimately sedated for the protection of law enforcement and hospital staff, the report states.
The affidavit states that the incident began when Rieder and another man got into a verbal confrontation which turned physical. The female neighbor across the street walked outside and told the men to be quiet. The report states that the woman told police that Rieder turned to her and said, “I’m going to f—— kill you.” The woman went back inside, locked her doors then watched Rieder come across the street and go to the back of her house and started to force entry through her back door.
The report states that the woman went out the front door of the house and across the street to a neighbor’s house. The neighbor said the woman was “hysterical” and carrying a pistol. The woman told her neighbor that Rieder had broken into her home. The neighbor took the gun and proceeded across the street to the woman’s house in an attempt to stop him from entering the home. When the neighbor got to the woman’s house, the report states, he saw Rieder inside throwing items around and damaging the residence. The report states that the neighbor pointed the gun at Rieder and said “stop, police department.”
The report states that Rieder then picked up a leaf blower and threw it at the neighbor hitting him in the head with the device. The neighbor told officers he then pointed the gun at Rieder and squeezed the trigger three times, but each time the weapon did not fire. Rieder then told the man to give him the gun and started chasing after him. The neighbor told police that as he ran back towards his home Rieder tackled him in the street and began slamming his head into the asphalt.
As this was occurring, the report states, Rieder was yelling at the man to give him the gun. The neighbor tucked the gun underneath him as the assault continued until police arrived.
