Massage card distributor jailed for police officer attack

Man was handing out massage service cards at Global Village when confronted by police

A man has been jailed after attacking a police officer who confronted him as he distributed massage service cards at Global Village. Pawan Singh / The National

A "violent" man handing out massage service cards at a Dubai tourist spot attacked a police officer after being caught in the act.

The 25-year-old kicked the officer repeatedly after trying to flee the scene at Global Village, a court heard.

The officer had approached the man after witnessing him inspecting cars parked in the area.

The Nigerian man was arrested and was handed a three-month jail term at Dubai Criminal Court.

The second lieutenant with Dubai Police told the court he suspected the man was intending to steal from cars.

It was later discovered he was distributing massage service cards in the area.

The incident occurred on December 11 of last year.

Last year, The National reported on plans by Dubai Municipality to impose fines of up to Dh10,000, followed by immediate deportation, for people caught distributing the illegal ads.

“I was tasked to patrol the car parks at Global Village after several reports were filed concerning thefts from cars. When I saw the defendant, he was looking at cars as if he wanted to steal from them so I walked towards him to see what he was doing. Just as he saw me approaching, he ran away,” said the Emirati officer, 44.

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The policeman called for back-up after the man scaled a fence to make his escape, but he soon caught up with him.

“We met face to face as I came from the opposite direction. I told him to take it easy and stop, but he attacked me,” said the officer.

The defendant kicked the officer repeatedly on the legs, thighs and waist before another policeman and a security guard from the global village arrived and tried to restrain him.

A Yemeni policeman, 35, stationed at Global Village said that he received his colleague’s request for assistance and arrived to find his colleague being assaulted.

“He was very violent,” said the Yemeni officer.

It took the three men nearly 10 minutes to subdue the defendant and handcuff him.

A medical report said the officer suffered multiple bruises.

The accused was found guilty of resisting arrest and assaulting an officer and will be deported at the end of his sentence.