Cape teen charged after shoving police officer down stairs

A Cape Girardeau police officer was injured Thursday afternoon when a suspect he was trying to question pushed him down a flight of stairs.

According to patrolman Jason Selzer, Sgt. Kevin Orr, 44, was taken to a local hospital emergency room for treatment of a cut above his eye, which required stitches, and injuries to his knees and face. He was released around 3 p.m.

Selzer said Orr was at 239 N. Middle St. around 1 p.m., trying to identify people who were living in one of the apartments without the landlord's permission. Someone who knew a former tenant had apparently moved in after the tenant moved out, changed the locks, and was living there with several other people without paying rent, he said. The landlord had asked for police assistance in identifying the intruders in order to evict them.

One of the people in the apartment, Mikell Dewayne Abraham, 17, whose last known address is 144 S. Lorimier St., Apt. 3, refused to give his name and tried to leave. Abraham and Orr struggled and Abraham allegedly shoved Orr down a flight of steps. He landed in some gravel at the bottom of the stairwell.

Selzer said that Orr radioed for assistance and then, although dizzy and somewhat disoriented, started to chase Abraham on foot. Officers assisting Orr apprehended Abraham at Broadway and Fountain Street near the federal courthouse around 1:30 p.m.

Orr was taken to the hospital by private vehicle. Abraham was taken to the Cape Girardeau County Jail to await charges.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said he plans to file charges this morning against Abraham for felony assault of a police officer and felony resisting arrest. Paperwork from the police department did not reach his office in time for him to file Thursday afternoon.

Abraham also has an outstanding warrant from the city for probation violation on an original charge of possession of a controlled substance. Selzer said it is unclear whether Abraham was one of the people living illegally at the Middle Street address or if he was just visiting. No one else was arrested.

Orr observed his 22nd anniversary with the Cape Girardeau Police Department Monday.

Swingle noted an odd connection between Thursday's assault and a hearing scheduled for this afternoon before Judge Gary Kamp. Anthony Fisher is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing to answer to a charge of felony assault of a police officer, the first case since the law was strengthened to make it easier to apply for a felony charge for assaulting an officer. Fisher is accused of kicking Orr in the head during a Sept. 15 raid at the Holiday Lodge on North Kingshighway.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160