Cape police make use-of-force arrest on fleeing suspect

A traffic stop ended in a use-of-force arrest when a Cape Girardeau man fled police Monday morning, officers said.

The Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Randy G. Lewis Jr., 34, with felony resisting arrest, as well as third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, after being accused of trying to punch the arresting officer.

Lewis was driving west on Independence Street in Cape Girardeau at 4:41 a.m. Monday in a vehicle police determined to be unregistered, according to a probable-cause statement filed in the case by patrolman Brian Eggers of the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

When Eggers tried to pull the vehicle over near Independence and Kingshighway, the vehicle turned south, stopped in the center of Kingshighway, and Lewis fled, Eggers wrote.

Despite the officer’s commands to stop, Lewis ran into a ditch, where the officer caught up to him, according to the statement.

“At that time, I observed Lewis clinch his right hand into a fist and pull it backward, as if he was going to throw a punch at me. I then struck Lewis in the top of his head with my department-issued flashlight,” Eggers wrote.

Patrolman Rich McCall Jr., public-information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, said officers’ standard-issue flashlights are about six inches long.

Fellow public-information officer Sgt. Adam Glueck said while the department has supervisors who review all use-of-force incidents to ensure officers act according to department policy, officers are permitted to act in self-defense.

“If he already had the flashlight in hand, an officer is allowed to defend himself and do what’s necessary so they don’t get injured,” Glueck said.

Lewis fell to the ground after being struck but continued to resist as Eggers tried to handcuff him, according to the statement.

When Lewis grabbed the handcuffs and turned toward Eggers, the officer “struck Lewis in the forehead three times with a closed left hand,” Eggers wrote.

Lewis dropped the handcuffs, after which Eggers removed the projectile cartridge from his Taser and applied it twice, according to the statement.

The attempts to drive-stun Lewis were “ineffective,” Eggers wrote.

Additional officers arrived, and Lewis was arrested, the statement read.

Two passengers in the car Lewis was driving said prior to fleeing, Lewis said he wasn’t going to stop because he had outstanding warrants, Eggers wrote.

McCall confirmed Lewis had three Cape Girardeau County arrest warrants —two for burglary/stealing and one for possession of a controlled substance.

His bond was set at $30,000, according to documents filed in the case.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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