Atwater man arrested after foot chase with police

A 49-year-old Atwater man led police on a short foot chase late Wednesday that ended after officers shot him with a bean bag gun, the Police Department reported.

William J. Archer has a long history of running from police and resisting arrest in Atwater, according to police and Merced County jail records.

“The officers did a great job bringing him into custody,” Lt. Samuel Joseph said. “He’s a very dangerous individual.”

Officers spotted a man, later identified as Archer, around 11 p.m. riding a bicycle with no lights on Shaffer Road. The man got off the bicycle when police tried to stop him and fled through the backyards of a residential neighborhood in the 100 block of East Pacemaker Drive, police said.

Officers surrounded and searched the area, methodically looking through backyards for several blocks before they found the man behind a home in the 300 block of Cindy Drive, Joseph said.

The man ran away again and, officers said, appeared to be reaching toward his waistband as he fled. Fearing he was armed with a weapon, police fired a bean bag gun, striking the man once in the hip. He was taken into custody a short time later and booked into jail on suspicion of resisting arrest.

Archer was found to have a warrant for his arrest on a felony probation violation, according to police.

He remained in custody Thursday morning on more than $101,000 bail, according to jail records.

This story was originally published April 2, 2015 at 8:58 AM with the headline "Atwater man arrested after foot chase with police."