Drunk tourist hits one Dubai cop with bottle, head-butts another

A tourist was charged at a Dubai court on Tuesday for assaulting two on-duty police officers while resisting arrest.
According to public prosecution records, the 23-year-old Saudi national was drunk when he used force against the officers. He hit one of them with a liquor bottle and head-butted the other. At the Court of First Instance, the man faced charges of assaulting on-duty police officers and verbally abusing them.
He denied the assault charge in court, claiming he was too drunk to recall what happened on the day of incident.
The incident took place on August 26 and was reported at Al Barsha police station.
During the public prosecution investigation, one of the police officers said they received a report about an incident in Tecom area. "We went there and a female expatriate told us she spotted a man running while holding an alcohol bottle. It was clear he had been at a nearby hotel. He was running in my direction while being chased by his father and a security guard."
The corporal escaped being hit in the face with the bottle by the defendant when he tried to stop him. "He tried to hit me with it on my face. But I protected myself and got injured in my hand."
The defendant fiercely resisted the police officers but was brought under control. "As I handcuffed him and was handing him over to my colleague, he intentionally head-butted him, causing him an eye injury," the corporal added.
The drunk man was then taken inside the patrol car.
The other policeman corroborated the testimony of the corporal. "He head-butted me and injured me under my eye," the officer told the prosecutor.
During interrogation by the prosecution, the accused confessed he drank alcohol but claimed he could not remember anything about the episode.
After the incident, the two officers got checked-up at the hospital and both received medical reports for their injuries caused by the defendant's assault. The reports were enclosed to the case file and used as prosecution evidence.
The court will hand down a ruling on December 18.
mary@khaleejtimes.com