Bedford Man Assaults Queen City Officers After Motel Knife Threat Incident: Report

MANCHESTER, NH — A local man was arrested this weekend for allegedly assaulting police officers that were responding to a fight at a Manchester motel, according to police. Gerson Munoz Benitez, 30, of Bedford, was arrested on Dec. 18, 2016, and charged with felony second-degree assault and two counts of criminal threatening, one of them a felony, as well as two counts of simple assault and resisting arrest or detention.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Manchester Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the name removal request process for NH Patch police reports.

On Sunday night at just after 10:30 p.m., officers were called to the Cadillac Motel on Chestnut Street for a report of a possible fight with a man with a knife reportedly threatening to kill another man.

When they arrived, they spoke with the complainant, who lives on the second-floor of the motel, who stated that he and his wife heard a disturbance across the hall so he opened his door and requested a man and a woman inside of a neighboring apartment to notch it down.

“He asked them to quiet down or to take the disturbance outside of the densely populated apartment complex,” according to Lt. Brian O’Keefe of the Manchester Police Department. “The unknown man approached him with a knife and threatened to kill him, so he entered his apartment and secured their apartment door.”

Officers then located the second man – Benitez – outside of the apartment house. Officers reportedly “determined Munoz Benitez had threatened the victim, so they attempted to place him into custody,” O’Keefe alleged. “He pulled away from the arresting officer and made a fist with his free hand. Additional officers immediately intervened to assist with the combative subject.”

Benitez allegedly continued to resist – kicking and punching officers – so he was “transitioned to the ground.” The act of moving him to the ground, according to O’Keefe, caused a third officer to sustain a serious knee injury. That officer was treated at a local hospital with the other two officers returning to duty after the alleged assault.

“Munoz Benitez continued to threaten the officers as they placed him into custody,” O’Keefe alleged.

Benitez was held and arraigned yesterday.

According to a post on Bedford NH Patch in August 2013, Benitez was arrested for being a habitual offender as well as other motor vehicle violations.