WORCESTER, Mass. (WHDH/AP) — Police say they used a stun gun on a Worcester preacher because he was interfering in a child custody case.
Officers responding to the Cornerstone Baptist Church on Sunday night were greeted by 55-year-old Joseph Rizzuti, who allegedly blocked them from speaking to a woman and slammed a door into them as they followed him.
Police say they used the stun gun to gain control over Rizzuti during a struggle inside the church.
In a video of the incident captured on a cellphone, a panicked bystander could be heard screaming, “Joey! What is going on?”
Rizzuti faces several charges including assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest.
On the church’s Facebook page, Rizzuti said after advising a church member to go home with her children if police were not detaining her, officers turned their “rage” on him for “standing up for woman and child being bullied.”
Rizzuti told 7’s Steve Cooper that that situation would have been a lot worse if his church wasn’t filled with so many people.
“I believe that if I had been alone in that building, most likely I would have been murdered in that building by these police officers,” he said. “Fortunately, there were 25-30 people there, and they could not get away with it.”
Rizzuti is slated to be arraigned Tuesday in Worcester District Court.
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