Car park arrest as off-duty sergeant intervenes in fight

A man was caught with Class A drugs after an off-duty police officer intervened in a fight at a Nottingham car park.

The neighbourhood sergeant was driving out of St James’ Street Car Park when his attention was drawn to two men fighting.

He got out his car, approached the two men and identified himself as a police officer.

One of the men was quite agitated and moved towards the off-duty officer, so he called 999 and requested back-up – before telling the man to get back.

The second man remained quiet and the pair told the officer everything was fine between them, although the sergeant was far from convinced.

Moments later, a PC and PCSO arrived and took hold of the man who had become agitated and aggressive.

A small amount of ecstasy was found in his left pocket during a search and so he was arrested on suspicion of possession of a Class A drug.

The 21-year-old was further arrested for assaulting an emergency worker after he kicked one of the officers during the search, leaving him in pain.

In custody, the suspect admitted both offences and expressed remorse. He was given a conditional police caution that requires him to attend three sessions of a drugs awareness course. He must also pay £50 in compensation to the officer he assaulted during the arrest, which took place shortly after 5.30pm on Saturday (15 February).

Inspector Paul Gummer, of the City Centre neighbourhood policing team, said:

“The sergeant in this case was not in uniform but didn’t think twice about intervening in this incident.

“His actions were a credit to him and a reminder to the public that a police officer is never fully off-duty.

“Not only did he ensure the incident did not escalate, his actions meant a quantity of Class A drugs were discovered and seized from one of the males.

“This serves as another reminder that drug crime will not be tolerated by Nottinghamshire Police.”