A Melbourne police officer is back on the job Tuesday after spending the weekend recovering from a hostile crowd in downtown late Friday night.
Lt. Steve Sadoff was in the middle of handcuffing a man who was resisting arrest, when a crowd gathered. The incident happened in front of three late night bars.
Sadoff approached Phoenix Low, 22, about an open container of alcohol, a city ordinance violation, on New Haven Avenue. Low told Sadoff he wasn’t a real officer. That’s when the scuffle ensued.
Low refused to follow instructions, according to the Melbourne Police Department. Low then tried to run. He also pushed and struck the officer. Police said Sadoff wrestled Low to the ground.
While Low was on the ground, the crowd began to pull at Low and the officer trying to break Low free.
"Someone came from behind and ripped the traffic vest off the officer as he was wrestling with the individual, the officer felt incredibly threatened," said Commander Dan Lynch of MPD.
Low was able to break free of the officer's grasp. Sardoff deployed a stun gun and shot him. Police said he was caught shortly after a brief foot chase. The officer suffered bumps, bruises and a knee injury as a result of the tussle from Low and the crowd.
“[It’s a] pretty serious situation where the officer used the minimal force necessary, and he was successful in making the arrest that he needed to make, and also not hurting anyone,” said Lynch. “As you know, these types of situations can turn very ugly, very fast.”
The incident mirrors similar occurrences across the country underlying the growing tension between police and the community.
"It's definitely a problem we are running into around now. We shouldn't continue this trend," says Cody Higham, a downtown Melbourne patron.
Sadoff told investigators that there were people in the crowd shooting video of the attack with their cell phones. Officers are hoping those persons will be able to step forward to assist in the investigation for possible arrests.
Dozens of officers who are on foot patrol and on bikes during the busy weekend nights have been wearing these reflective vests to be more visible -- but now they might take them off if people in a surrounding crowd are grabbing at them.
"There here to protect us, and people think they can just take a free shot at them," says Kevin Carlin, who owns a downtown Melbourne pub. "It's just a shame people will still go out nowadays and accost police officers as they are doing their job."
MPD is reviewing their policies to see if any changes need to be made. MPD states it will continue to work with downtown merchants to curb future violence.
It’s the second attack against a Melbourne officer in the past few weeks. A crowd attacked an officer on May 12th. A woman was taken into custody on Stone Street. She was accused of having drugs.
She struggled with the officer and yelled for a surrounding crowd to help get him off of her.
The officer was slightly hurt and the woman was arrested.