Eugene, OR. – Official Release: At 2:52 p.m. on January 1, a Eugene Police Traffic Safety Unit officer was leaving a traffic stop at W. 7th Avenue and Polk Street when he observed a Tesla speeding east on W. 7th Avenue. The officer initiated a stop and the driver stopped in the middle of the W. 7th Avenue and Washington Street intersection. The officer used his air horn to get the driver to move his vehicle out of the busy intersection.
The driver, later identified as Rio C. McWilliams, age 55, pulled to the far-right lane of W. 7th Avenue and stopped. When the officer interacted with McWilliams, he suspected impairment. McWilliams failed to comply with the officer’s instructions, resisted arrest, and efforts by multiple officers to get him out of the vehicle. He was admonished during the struggles regarding use of force, including a taser and pepper spray.
A taser in drive stun mode and pepper spray were used to gain compliance. Once McWilliams was pulled from the vehicle, he continued to resist three officers who struggled to control McWilliams’ arms. Once McWilliams was in custody, Eugene Springfield Fire evaluated and medically cleared him prior to the next steps in a DUII investigation at Lane County Jail.
After the investigation concluded, he was released from jail and cited in lieu of custody for DUII and Resisting Arrest, and he was issued traffic citations for Speeding and Careless Driving. Case 25-00045
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