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Caught on camera: Man confronts SDPD officer in Ocean Beach leading to pursuit, crash

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SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- Video shared with ABC 10News shows a confrontation between a man and a San Diego police officer in Ocean Beach.

The video shows the man yelling at the officer. When the officer deploys his taser and his expandable baton to subdue him, he leaves the scene, driving off in his Toyota Tacoma.

San Diego Police Department, in an email, said this incident happened just after 2 p.m. on Thursday. They received several 911 calls about a man threatening someone with a screwdriver and driving recklessly in the 2000 blocks of Abbott Street.

When the first officer arrived on the scene to investigate, William Williams, a 47-year-old Chula Vista resident, started aggressively confronting the officer, according to SDPD.

After requesting additional units, the officer made an ineffective attempt to subdue Williams with a taser. The email said the officer also employed an expandable baton, which had no effect.

Williams then escaped in his Toyota Tacoma pickup truck, initiating a pursuit along the streets of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, where he collided with a parked car and intentionally reversed into a police vehicle.

Robert Blume, the owner of Connect San Diego on Newport Avenue recorded the now viral video.

"I heard a yelling, screaming like stop, stop," Blume said.

Blume says he was shocked when he saw Williams drive away, evading police.

"Super glad it didn't get any worse, I thought when he got back in his truck I thought that was it I thought he was going to run over somebody," Blume said.

SDPD's email said officers used spike strips to stop Williams at the intersection of Lotus Street and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard. SDPD finally took him into custody following the deployment of a K-9 unit and a taser.

Kevin Lachepelle, a former police officer and a current criminal justice professor said the officer in the video did everything right, without escalating the situation.

"This could have gone really, really bad if that suspect would have gotten a hold of that officer, being by himself as big as that man was," Lachepelle said.

The Humane Society took a small, uninjured dog that police found in Williams's truck. Williams was transported to the hospital for precautionary measures after the taser deployment, vehicle crash and a dog bite, SDPD said.

Following his treatment, Williams will be booked and faces a laundry list of charges, including evading law enforcement, brandishing a weapon, criminal threats, DUI, possession of a controlled substance, assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest and hit and run.