Ephrata Man Sentenced After Assaulting Officers

A Ephrata man assaulted two Ephrata police officers in June and is now sentenced to almost five years in prison.

Our news partner, iFiberone, reported that Wayne Symmonds, 56, was sentenced 57.25 months in prison after a June incident. 

Ephrata police responded to a trespassing in progress at a Conoco gas station where he had already trespassed from the business. Symmonds refused to leave and during a struggle with an officer, began punching the officer and another officer had to pull him away. As Symmonds continued to struggle, he grabbed an officer's crotch and squeezed which resulted in a Taser being deployed. When the Taser had no effect on Symmonds, the Taser was deployed again and he was taken into custody.

Symmonds has had 18 previous felony convictions. He is a registered sex offender, convicted of second-degree attempted child molestation, two counts of third degree assault of an officer and second-degree criminal trespassing and resisting arrest.