Travis William Mattila

ELY- A 32-year-old Ely man remained in custody in the St. Louis County Jail this week after he allegedly bit an Ely police officer who was trying to buckle him into a squad car.
Travis William Mattila was arrested on Tuesday, June 18, after he refused to leave the middle of Sheridan Street, where he was obstructing traffic and shouting at passing vehicles as rain continued during last week’s storm.
Officer Bradley Roy responded to a 911 call about Mattila’s behavior and found him at the intersection of Seventh Ave. and Sheridan St., where his presence in the road had stopped the flow of traffic.
When Roy approached Mattila, he accosted Roy with “obscenities and slurs” according to the statement of probable cause filed by the Ely Police Department. “Roy observed that Mattila had bloodshot, watery eyes, and had an odor of alcoholic beverages coming from his person,” continued the statement. Roy asked Mattila to leave the area, “but Mattila began doing ‘karate’ moves.”
Roy contacted Mattila’s probation officer, who asked Roy to administer a preliminary breath test. Mattila refused and Roy informed him he was under arrest.
Mattila allegedly resisted arrest and it took Roy and two other police officers to take him into custody. According to police records, when Roy reached into the squad vehicle to buckle Mattila’s seat belt, Mattila bit Roy on the right hand, “leaving marks.”
The St. Louis County Jail roster lists multiple counts lodged against Mattila, including fourth degree felony assault of a police officer with demonstrable bodily harm, and fifth degree felony assault with two or more prior convictions. He also faces a felony probation violation, and misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct, using a false name, and obstructing a public road.
Prior to last week’s incident, Mattila had three felony and 18 petty, gross, or plain misdemeanor convictions. Two of the felony convictions were for making violent threats, once in Virginia and once in Ely, in 2023.