Police officer punched during traffic stop

(CNS): A 27-year-old man from West Bay was scheduled to appear in court Monday charged with assaulting a police officer during a traffic stop early Saturday morning, when he allegedly punched the cop in the face. Police said that the man was a passenger in a car that was stopped at about 1:00am on 10 December during a roadside check on Esterley Tibbetts Highway near the old Hyatt Regency site. Officers used pepper spray on the suspect as he was arrested.

In a press release the RCIPS said that during a conversation with the driver, the male passenger began using abusive language toward the officer. He was reportedly warned but continued being abusive and then refused to comply with the officer’s commands to step get out of the car.

“The man was then arrested for disorderly conduct, during which he violently resisted arrest and punched the officer in the face; pepper spray was then deployed,” the police stated, adding that the injured officer received treatment at Cayman Islands Hospital for injuries to his face.

The man was charged Sunday with assault and assault ABH.

The report comes in the wake of news that three officers convicted of assault during arrests are still on the police pay roll.

Also last weekend, another officer was allegedly assaulted after giving a drunk driver a parking ticket outside a night club. The suspect in that case was tasered and taken to hospital suffering from a head injury when he hit the pavement after being hit with the stun gun.

The police are encountering increasing resistance when making arrests or attending crime reports. Over the last year police have been involved several altercations and encountered angry and hostile crowds when attending crime reports. Police management have raised their concerns on a number of occasions recently about the increasing violence around licensed premises and the poor standard of private security.