Police subdued a man with a Taser gun after he tried to attack an officer with a tomahawk. Jeffrey Moore, 37, of Deposit, was immediately dropped to the ground before he could harm the officer when two jolts of electricity passed through his body.
"Somebody's life was saved because of the Taser, and it was probably the defendant's," said Deposit Police Chief Timothy Roberts.
The incident began at 11:35 p.m. Thursday when Moore was pulled over for a routine traffic violation in Deposit, 93 miles southwest of Albany, police said.
Moore got out of the car holding what looked like a hatchet, refused to drop it, and began swinging it as he approached the officer, officials said.
"The officer asked Moore what he was doing with the hatchet, and he replied that he was having a really bad day and someone else was about to," Roberts said.
Officials declined to release the name of the officer who used the Taser.
Moore was examined by medical personnel on the scene but was not hospitalized.
He was being held in the Broome County Jail without bail late Friday.
He faces multiple charges, including attempted second-degree aggressive assault on a police officer, a felony. He was also charged with second-degree menacing and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, both misdemeanors.