Wanted man arrested for aggravated assault

BONNEVILLE COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) - Bonneville County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the 800 block of N. Eve Dr. Saturday afternoon to a disturbance between neighbors.

Dispatch received the call around 3:45 p.m. advising a male, later identified as 22-year-old Ricky J. Bruffett, had threatened a neighbor with a hammer. 

The reporting party told arriving deputies Bruffett claimed they had stolen his laptop and threatened them with a hammer. 

When deputies arrived, they located Bruffett trying to hide in a back room of his residence, and Bruffett made several statements to deputies about the neighbors wanting to fight him and they had been coming inside his residence to “rape” his family. 

While talking to Bruffett inside the residence, deputies discovered he had four active misdemeanor warrants for his arrest out of Bonneville County, all for failure to appear at court hearings. Deputies told Bruffett he was under arrest for the outstanding warrants, and he immediately ran out an adjacent back door. Deputies pursued on foot and notified other area units who were responding. 

Moments later, a deputy located Bruffett in the parking lot of the Cloverdale Elementary School and gave commands for him to stop, but Bruffett continued to flee on foot until he briefly laid down in a small ditch. 

The pursuing deputy gave verbal commands to Bruffett to show his hands and lay on his stomach; however, he refused and sat up in a fighting stance advancing toward the deputy. 

Bruffett made statements to the deputy during this time using profanity and asking the deputy to shoot him. Bruffett also told the deputy he was “Satan” and continued to advance toward the deputy with clenched fists.   

The deputy deployed a Taser causing Bruffett to briefly fall to the ground. Bruffett quickly stood up and again fled on foot away from the deputy. 

As he was being given verbal commands to stop, Bruffett headed back toward Even Dr. crossing fences, ditches and back yards. 

Deputies encountered Bruffett near Eve Dr. and could see that he picked up a large stick. 

After failing to acknowledge commands from the deputies to drop the stick, a Taser was deployed causing Bruffett to fall into a small canal. 

Deputies quickly retrieved Bruffett from the water, and he was taken into custody. 

After a hospital clearance, Bruffett was transported to the Bonneville County Jail where he was booked on the four outstanding warrants. 

Bruffett was also booked for felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor resisting arrest.