Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

Three people were arrested, one tased by police, for assaulting a Livingston County Sheriff’s deputy working crowd control for NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal’s visit to the Big Chicken restaurant in Hartland Friday.

According to the Sheriff’s department, a 21-year-old Howell man “began being confrontational toward a deputy. The deputy de-escalated the situation and continued with scene security. After Mr. O'Neal had arrived and was in the restaurant a bystander alerted Deputies that this same individual was making assaultive remarks about the deputies and was digging into a backpack. The bystander then alluded to the fact they believed he had a weapon in the bag.”

A deputy attempted to contact the 21-year-old male who took a swing at the deputy. The deputy drew his taser and at that time a 48-year-old Brighton woman who was with the 21-year-old male attempted to disarm the deputy and was joined by her 21-year-old daughter in obstructing the deputy from taking the 21-year-old male into custody for the attempted assault on an officer.

“Two other deputies on scene went to the aid of the first deputy and attempted to move the two females out of the way and take the male subject into custody. When the deputy moved the two females out of the way they fell to the ground. Seeing this the male suspect attacked the deputy from behind attempting to put him in a headlock/chokehold. The other two deputies fired Taser's, but they had no effect. The three deputies were able to wrestle the male subject into handcuffs and secure him. The two females were advised that they were under arrest and continued to resist and attempt to flee but were also taken into custody.”

All three were lodged at the Livingston County Jail on multiple felonies. The deputy who was assaulted only sustained minor injuries. The event continued without further incident.

The Sheriff’s office said it was contacted early Friday afternoon by O'Neal's PR staff who indicated the visit was not supposed to be public, but the information had been leaked and they were anticipating large crowds.

“Due to being contacted so late the adequate number of Deputies required for a large crowd were not able to be scheduled. This along with the Pinckney Homecoming Parade and the Hartland vs Brighton Football game in Hartland further depleted the available resources.”

All available Deputies were dispatched to the Big Chicken to assist with O'Neal's appearance , which drew approximately 250-300 people.

Photos courtesy of Hartland Township's Facebook page.