Temper tantrum at the ballfield featured wads of spit; fireworks came later

So you wanna be a cop? Read this!

FORT WAYNE, Ind. ---It was such a spectacle that it was immediately reported on Nosey Neighbors of Fort Wayne, the online, highly entertaining gossip mill. 

On the Fourth of July, during that most American of pastimes around here - a local TinCaps baseball game -  a brawl broke out to rival anything you might witness at a late-night dive bar.

At 7:53 p.m. at Parkview Field, right in the middle of the game against the Great Lakes Loons, someone called Fort Wayne police for backup.

Off-duty Churubusco Police Department officer T. Lysaght “was actively fighting with a man,” according to a probable cause affidavit submitted by FWPD officer C. Olry.

An individual close to the situation reported that a woman had asked 43-year-old Dustin Dupriest to stop vaping, please. Dupriest took offense, according to the source, and let her have it with a wad of spit. 

Coming to her aid, Lysaght ended up physically engaging with Dupriest as he attempted to place handcuffs on him, court documents said.

Responding officers arrived to find Dupriest “bleeding heavily from his face and chin,” and “actively resisting Ofc. Lysaght’s attempt to place him into custody.”

Three Fort Wayne officers were needed to secure Dupriest in handcuffs and escort him to a squad car, court documents said.

When the group got to the squad car, Dupriest “began to forcefully and violently thrash his body around” as he tried to escape from the officers. 

Then, Dupriest “violently threw his head backwards” toward one of the officers and tried to headbutt him, court documents said.

While he was doing the thrashing around, he spit at  the officer and the bloody saliva struck that officer in the face.

As emergency medical personnel arrived, Dupriest let go with another wad of bloody saliva “covering another officer’s face, hair and around his eyes.”

But Dupriest wasn’t done. The EMTs, named in court documents, each got an unwelcome ball of spit.

At the hospital, Dupriest “needed to be sedated.”  He was held there until he was calm enough for transport to the Allen County Jail, the probable cause said.

Online court documents indicate Dupriest was out of jail by July 10 after a $10,000 surety bond was posted and had appeared in court for his initial hearing.

But checking on his case, there’s still no deputy prosecutor assigned, nor his defense as of Friday.

He’s due back in court July 31 for a "status of counsel." He faces four Level 6 counts of battery by bodily waste upon a public safety officer and a misdemeanor resisting charge.

One wonders if Dupriest has apologized to anyone yet, maybe even to the folks at Parkview Field where vaping isn’t allowed any more than smoking is.

Videos quickly went online and one person posted in Nosey Neighbors this at 9:46 p.m that evening, just a couple hours after the incident got started, perhaps curious as he or she waited for the 14-inning game to end and the patriotic fireworks to begin.

“Anyone know what happened in front of Parkview Field to have 10 police cars come flying with lights and sirens on?”

Well, here's your answer.