POLICEMAN HITS PRISONER, IS DISIPLINED

A Cape Girardeau police officer was disciplined by the department for punching a handcuffed prisoner after the prisoner spit in his face Wednesday night.

Patrolman Louis Jordan was disciplined Thursday by Police Chief Howard H. Boyd Jr. and other administrative personnel, Boyd said. Details about what disciplinary action was taken are closed records, said the chief, declining to divulge the action.

Jordan punched Michael Fuqua, 24, address unknown, once in the face, Boyd said. Jordan was apparently trying to process Fuqua at the police station when the incident took place, he said.

Fuqua was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital for treatment of injuries from the punch and self-inflicted injuries that occurred earlier in the evening, Boyd said.

Fuqua was treated in the hospital emergency room and was released, said a hospital spokesman.

Fuqua is facing three misdemeanor charges stemming from a scuffle with police earlier Wednesday at the Bill and Chas Club.

Summonses for resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer and trespass will be mailed to Fuqua, said Cape Girardeau County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Ian Sutherland. Details of Jordan's actions were also forwarded to the prosecuting attorney's office.

Sutherland said: "We have declined to file this as a criminal matter. In my analysis this falls within parameters of adequate cause. While technically it may be an assault, (the action of Fuqua) is adequate cause to precipitate that kind of response (from Jordan).

"He should have known spitting in someone's face was going to get him hit."

Sutherland said: "The only complicating factor in this case is that Louis is a police officer. But from our standpoint it is not a complicating factor. If he were a regular citizen we would not file charges. In disciplinary action, he would be held to a higher standard."

Efforts to reach Jordan for comment were unsuccessful.

Boyd gave the following account of the events from an officer's written report:

Police were called to the Bill and Chas Club Wednesday at about 10:45 p.m. by the club's owner. Fuqua had refused to leave and the owner, Billy Watkins, wanted him charged with trespassing.

When police arrived Fuqua became upset and shouted obscenities at the officers. He was asked to stand next to the patrol car while police talked to Watkins.

Boyd said Fuqua began hitting the patrol car with his fists and his head. Officers decided to handcuff him. He fought and kicked officers, but was cuffed and placed in the patrol car. Once in the patrol car, he was calm for a while.

Fuqua later started hitting the passenger window with his head and kicked the interior of the patrol car. Police officers decided to take him out of the car. Fuqua kicked a police officer. Police then placed flex-cuffs on Fuqua's ankles.

"Officers determined it was not safe to transport him to the station in a patrol car, and sent for the prisoner van," Boyd said. "He was placed on the ground and officers had to physically hold him down to keep him from damaging property or hurting himself."

Boyd said that once at the police station, Fuqua was placed in a holding room. Jordan, who had not been involved in the earlier scuffle, came in to process his arrest. Fuqua spit in Jordan's face and Jordan responded by punching the handcuffed prisoner in the face, said Boyd.

"We have no way of knowing how much of the damage (to Fuqua's face) was caused by the punch and how much was self-inflicted," Boyd said. The incident at the police station occurred just before midnight, he said.

He was released from custody upon leaving the hospital pending issuance of summonses.

Boyd said the disciplinary action was swift because there was no question Jordan had punched the prisoner.

"There are some things police officers just don't do. You don't hit a handcuffed prisoner," Boyd said. "Even though I can empathize with Jordan, there are some things a police officer must take."

He said complaints against Jordan are similar in number to complaints against other officers.

"Police officers are involved in a lot of scuffles," said Boyd. "We often deal with people who are not in the best mood. So it's not unusual for an officer to have complaints filed against them for use of excessive force. Of course, we don't condone excessive force.

"Jordan, like other officers, has had complaints filed against him. He may have one or two more than other officers."

Jordan was investigated in November 1990, after a Cape Girardeau man, John Martin, accused him of assault. The city prosecutor found that Jordan did not violate city laws. A police department internal investigation found that Jordan did violate department regulations.