Video: Naked man slaps Houston cop, gets tased

HOUSTON -- A naked man wielding a stolen pesticide sprayer was captured on video slapping a Houston police officer before being subdued with a Taser and arrested.

Police say the suspect, Keith Dean, 49, was walking naked down a street when a good Samaritan tried to give him a towel to cover up. Dean then asked him for his watch. The man gave Dean his watch in an effort to calm him down.

Witnesses say Dean then ran away from the man and into a Metro train at Houston's Fannin South Transit Center.

The incident happened on June 6, but the video is just being made public now.

The video shows officers trying to coax the naked Dean off the train and put down the pesticide sprayer. He continues spraying before the officer, who has a Taser pointed at Dean, grabs the nozzle.

The suspect then steps off the train and lunges at the officer, slapping him hard in the face. He lunges again as the officer discharges the Taser, knocking Dean to the ground.

He has to be tased again before he can finally be taken into custody.

Ben Marquina, who recorded the incident on his cellphone, said the officer showed some restraint in the incident.

"Yea the cop, he showed a lot of restraint after getting punched like that. Crazy," Marquina said.

In the video, police Taser the naked man after he sprayed bug spray on them.

As commuters went about their day, the officers can be heard on video calmly talking to Dean, getting him to comply.

"What's going on buddy?" one officer asked. "Can you walk, can you get up?"

The incident would end with no injuries. Dean, in video of his initial court appearance, asked for a court-appointed attorney.

Houston police this week released a statement praising the officers.

"We commend these two officers for their actions in bringing a volatile situation to a safe conclusion. The male clearly struck our officer, who in turn used sound judgement in holding his composure and gaining control of the scene...thanks to assistance from his partner," said Executive Assistant Chief Troy Finner.

Dean has been charged with two counts of assault-bodily injury of a public servant.