Inver Grove Heights Man Charged with Spitting on Lakeville Cop

An Inver Grove Heights man has been charged with assaulting a police officer after authorities say he spit directly in a ’s face last week.

Chad Allen Houg, 42, faces a felony charge of fourth-degree assault of a peace officer, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $6,000 fine.  

He is also charged with misdemeanor trespassing, which has a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Houg remained in the Dakota County Jail Wednesday on a $10,000 bond. He also faces unrelated drunken-driving charges from an outstanding warrant issued earlier this month.

According to the criminal complaint, Lakeville police were called to a home just after 9 p.m. Nov. 4 on a report of two men slapping one another.

Police found the two men—one of them Houg—on the home’s outside deck, and separated them. Officers who spoke to Houg noticed a “very strong smell” of alcohol on him, and observed that his eyes were glassy, bloodshot and watery.

Houg was “noticeably agitated” and admitted to police that he’d been drinking. The other man told police that Houg had previously been asked to leave but had returned, and he wanted him removed from the premises.

As other officers arrived on the scene, Houg became more agitated, the complaint says. Police attempted to have him take a Breathalyzer test, but he refused, turned his back with his arms behind him and said, “Just arrest me.”

Police arrested him and began escorting him to a squad car. As they approached the car, Houg told one of the officers to take his hands off him. When the officer didn’t comply, Houg spit directly into the officer’s face, hitting him in the eyes, nose and mouth, according to the complaint.