A simple code-enforcement call turned into an assault on a police officer, Tuesday afternoon.
Columbus police arrested Rodney James Taylor, 47, of 92 12th Ave. N. in Columbus, Tuesday for assaulting a police officer.
The incident occurred at 1109 First St. N. at around 1:35 p.m. when Lt. Carroll Culpepper reported he had been assaulted at the residence and asked for assistance.
“I was over there backing up another officer on a call,” Cul pepper said, noting he was assisting a code enforcement officer who was towing one of Taylor’s vehicles that was declared abandoned.
“When the suspect arrived, he became belligerent and irate,” Culpepper said. “When I tried to arrest him, he assaulted me.”
The subject fled the scene after the physical incident and hid from police, Culpepper said, but he was taken into custody a short time later.
“He was right in that area hiding from us,” Culpepper said. “He gave himself up to one of our officers.”
Culpepper said he was “just a little scratched up and dirty” after the incident.
Taylor, owner of PJ’s BBQ, Jumpin’ G’s and Homerun Grill, was arrested for simple assault on a police officer and resisting arrest, Culpepper said.
According to Interim Columbus Police Chief Selvain McQueen, simple assault on an officer is a swing statute in Mississippi, meaning it can be either a misdemeanor or a felony. If it is a misdemeanor, the maximum penalty is one year in the county jail and up to a $1,000 fine. If deemed a felony, the maximum penalty is five years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections and up to a $1,000 fine.
Culpepper was going to arrest Taylor for disorderly conduct before the physical altercation.
Bond had not been set Tuesday, as Taylor was still being processed with the CPD and Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.
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