Hung Nguyen is back behind bars -- a place he told police he didn't want to revisit. Late Friday night, patrons of Arsenio's Restaurant on the 700 block of Harbor Boulevard saw Nguyen outside swinging Samurai-style swords and called 911.
"He's out there yelling, 'I don't wanna go to jail. I don't wanna live. I don't wanna do this,'" said Izzy Hutt, a witness.
Hutt grabbed his cellphone and started shooting video just as Santa Ana police Tasered Nguyen, after they say he refused to drop his weapons.
One sword measured 27 inches and the other 19 inches. Police say Nguyen wanted a confrontation with the officers.
"He had put the swords down, and once the officers got there, he picked them up and then addressed the officers, cussing at them, taunting them to kill him because he didn't want to go back to jail," said Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.
Shortly before the incident, Omar Arciga says he saw Nguyen, his neighbor, who also goes by the first name David, wielding the swords.
"I was at the garage with my friends, and I saw him running by with some swords. I told him, 'Hey David, where are you going?'" said Arciga. "And he was just going crazy with the swords, and he just kept running that way."
Court records show Nguyen has been convicted of selling marijuana and twice convicted of possessing a controlled substance. Police believe he was on drugs when Friday night's incident occurred. Having watched it unfold, Hutt says police made the right to decision to disarm Nguyen using a Taser instead of deadly force.
"When there's a guy running around with swords in his hands, you got to put him down because he could be a danger and a hazard to everybody, including myself, but I was ready to run just in case," he said.
Nguyen is being held without bail because he had a warrant out for his arrest for alleged narcotics violations. He is also being charged with assault with a deadly weapon and possession of swords. He is due in court on Tuesday.
