Paul L. Pearson Jr.

The Council Bluffs Police Department reports a Bellevue man attempted to harm himself during an arrest early Tuesday morning.

At 1:38 a.m. Officers made contact with 31-year-old Paul L. Pearson Jr. of Bellevue, NE at the Bucky’s Gas Station on S. 24th Street in Council Bluffs. Officers verified that Pearson had warrants out of Bellevue and took him into custody and placed him in the back of a cruiser. Officers noticed he was moving around a lot in the backseat and when they checked on him, he had gotten the handcuffs to the front of his body and wrapped a seatbelt around his neck. Officers were able to cut the seatbelt off of Pearson and get him out of the cruiser.

Council Bluffs Fire then responded and Pearson was placed in an ambulance and taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. After being seen by medical staff, he was released and taken to the Pottawattamie County Jail and booked in on Interference with Official Acts and Fugitive from Justice charges.