Restaurant disturbance leads to arrest, viral video

A man was arrested in front of the IHOP restaurant in Roseville after harassing patrons and walking on the counter top inside the restaurant, police said. Once outside, 24-year-old Ryan James Heater began confronting a Roseville Police officer and his patrol dog, according to police. Shirtless and shoeless, Heater was then brought to the ground by the dog unit, Roseville Police said. According to police, Heater was detained and received medical attention before being booked into the South Placer County Jail on suspicion of resisting arrest. The May 25 incident involving Heater was captured on video and posted on Facebook by IHOP customer Victor Alarcon, where it had received more than 2.4 million views, as of Thursday. Heater grew up in Foresthill and lived there as recently as 2017. Matt Cassell, a childhood friend, told Sacramento's CBS 13 that Heater suffered from mental illness, including depression. "It can happen to anybody, they can spiral out of control," Cassell said. Acquaintances and friends posted comments on the Foresthill Helping Foresthill Facebook page expressing surprise at Heater's actions leading up to his arrest. "He's a good kid," "Not the boy we knew growing up in Foresthill," and "Super polite, courteous and well-spoken" were some of the comments. Roseville Police described a very different Heater that Saturday morning. "This incident was during the breakfast hour so there were many people at the restaurant and we received many calls for the disturbance," a statement from the department said. This is the police account of what happened next: "The first unit on scene was an officer with his K9 partner. They encountered the enraged suspect outside of the restaurant. The suspect began threatening to assault the officer. Despite the officer's attempts at de-escalation the subject advanced on the officer and K9. The officer and K9 partner attempted to give the suspect space while giving warnings. The suspect continued to advance, closing the distance and threatening to kill the K9. Those threats coupled with actions constitute a crime. At that point, the Officer released the K9. The suspect was quickly subdued by the K9 and responding officers. He was placed in restraints and received medical treatment prior to booking. One Officer sustained a minor injury during this incident." The video also shows officers using the WRAP system to restrain Heater. The WRAP Restraint System was created by Safe Restraints, Inc. about 20 years ago. According to Roseville Police Lt. Doug Blake, the department has used the WRAP system for 10 years and introduced the most updated model of the restraint system within the last six months. "Based on the preliminary testing, we found it to be very helpful in restraining people safely," Blake said. The company's website states that "The WRAP is a safe restraint system, designed to protect subjects, officers, and staff by reducing the possibility of injury and death." When officers encounter an individual being very aggressive, such as Heater was, it can be a very dangerous situation not just for officers but also for the attacker, according to Blake The longer it takes officers to restrain the individual, the chances of the detainee harming themselves or others increases. "If we just have them in handcuffs, they can still move around and potentially kick out a police vehicle window on the way to the hospital and hurt themselves even more," Blake said. The WRAP system restrains both the upper and lower body and it also helps reduce the chances of arrest-related death. According to the Arrested-Related Deaths Program Redesign Study, 2015 to 2015: Preliminary Findings, there were 1,348 arrested-related deaths between June 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016 nationwide. The Roseville Police Department has not had any arrest-related deaths since the introduction of the WRAP system. The traditional ways of handcuffing or hog-tying the attacker can be dangerous for the person in custody and also difficult for the officers to make sure they transport the person safely, according to Blake. The WRAP system allows the person in custody to be able to sit up right and breathe properly, along with giving officers an easier job of controlling the detainee's body management, according to Blake "The WRAP is a useful tool to demonstrate to the public that we are concerned with getting people under custody safely while also maintaining the safety of our officers," Blake said. The Journal's Gus Thomson contributed to this report.