When Miami firefighters responded Monday morning to a house fire in the Flagami neighborhood, they were prepared to battle a blaze -- not someone who lived there.
As a fire engine pulled up to the home at 270 NW 62nd Ave. at about 7:15 a.m., a man who lives there drove his car directly into the front of emergency vehicle, police said. Then he threw rocks, floor tiles and dumbbells at the firefighters.
When police arrived, he met them swinging two machetes, one from each hand, said department spokesman Lt. Bill Schwartz.
He also threw one machete at officers as if it were a knife, police said.
''Even though officers were clearly faced with a deadly force situation, they were able to maneuver themselves into a position to use their electric Tasers,'' Schwartz said.
Police believe Hector Reigada, 39, was handcuffed and taken to the Miami-Dade County Jail. He was charged with arson, aggravated assault with a motor vehicle and several counts of aggravated assault on firefighters and law enforcement officers.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze before it engulfed the house, Schwartz said. Although Reigada lives there with his mother and other relatives, he was alone at the time of the incident.
The incident was the latest in which the department used Tasers, which shocks the suspect into submission, instead of drawing firearms.
Until a couple years ago, Miami police officers were often been criticized over use of deadly force. From 1990 to 2002, the department on average shot 15 people a year. In that period there were 33 fatal police shootings.
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