Policeman kicked and choked by worker on Palm Jumeirah

Officer knocked to the ground and choked by a man who handed over an ID card belonging to someone else.

DUBAI // A policeman was knocked to the ground and choked by a man who handed over an ID card belonging to someone else.

On October 30 last year, the 23-year-old officer was carrying out a routine stop of workers on Palm Jumeirah to check their identification cards.

The defendant, 38, from Vietnam, handed over his ID then ran away.

“I checked the ID and saw it belonged to a different person. He immediately started running and I chased him. When I caught up with him, he kicked me and I fell down. Then he strangled me,” the officer said.

A colleague came to his aid and pulled the defendant away from the officer.

“I grabbed him from the back and pushed him away from my colleague then called for back-up,” said the 47-year-old policeman. The defendant, he said, had told him he had run away because he was scared after overstaying his work visa.

The defendant confessed to using an ID belonging to someone else and impersonation but denied assaulting a police officer.

A verdict is expected on February 19.