Nine members of a U.S. Marshals Service task force were injured when a wooden deck collapsed beneath them during an arrest attempt in Huntsville, Missouri, on July 21.
The officers were serving a warrant for a 26-year-old man accused of failing to register as a sex offender. Body camera footage shows the officers standing on a second-story deck when it suddenly gave way, sending them falling to the ground. None of their firearms discharged during the incident.
The task force included members from the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department, the Moberly Police Department, and the North Missouri Drug Task Force, in coordination with the U.S. Marshals Service. The man sought in the warrant was taken into custody later that day, according to a U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson.
Seven officers were treated and released from the hospital for injuries described as consistent with a serious fall, including broken bones. A U.S. marshal noted that some officers may face long-term effects from their injuries.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol Sex Offender Registry lists the man, identified as Jacob Alexander Munoz, as a Tier 1 sex offender. His most recent offense, listed as possession of child pornography involving more than 20 images or one film or video, occurred in March 2020 when he was 20 years old. He was convicted in 2022.
Local law enforcement reported seeing multiple guns inside Munoz’s home during a previous search in 2020. The warrant was obtained after Munoz allegedly stopped complying with the terms of his sex offender registration, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.