A man who was arrested while under the influence of alcohol on suspicion of theft has been accused of punching the arresting officers because he was denied a cigarette while inside the police patrol car.
Dubai police officers responding to a report of a theft from a labour accommodation in Al Qouz Industrial area said they found the 23-year-old suspect was heavily drunk.
"We spoke to the man who reported the theft. He said he suspected his roommate, whom we found to be very drunk. We tried to calm him down and took him to the patrol car," said a Yemeni policeman, 44.
As the man entered the car, he allegedly started screaming and demanding that he was allowed to light a cigarette inside the patrol car.
"He was using bad language and screaming, then when we told him he could not smoke inside a police vehicle, he pushed my colleague out of the car as he tried to hand cuff him and jumped on top of him," said the officer.
When he tried to pull the defendant off his colleague, he claimed he was also punched on the face. "I fell down, he jumped on top of me and started hitting me before he ripped off my uniform," said the officer.
The two policemen managed to restrain the man and took him into custody before they were both sent to Rashid hospital for treatment.
The Egyptian defendant was charged with resisting arrest, assaulting officers, insulting officers, and damaging a police uniform, as well as consuming alcohol.
He denied the charges in court earlier this month. However, he was sentenced to four months in jail to be followed by deportation.