Police say that a guy from Missouri who had just gotten out of jail “savagely beat” a police officer while using an 11-year-old child as a “human shield.”
It took place at a trailer park in Moscow Mills, which is 50 miles northwest of St. Louis, around 10:30 p.m. on Thursday.
A probable cause arrest document said that Jeffrey Price’s mother called the police to say that her son was “not acting right.”
Police were called to the park about an hour earlier because Price, 34, was allegedly banging on the door of a random trailer because he thought his ex-wife was inside.
When the police arrived at the most recent call, people gave her directions to Price, who she found standing in front of another trailer.
Authorities say he ran inside even though he didn’t live there after she yelled at him. When the police officer went into the house, they say they saw him grab a girl by the neck and use her as a cover.
A police report said Price then put his right hand on the victim’s neck to make it look like he had a gun or some other weapon.
The girl’s face showed that she was “terrified,” the police wrote. Price is said to have lunged at the cop while still holding the victim.
The police officer set the girl free, and she ran outside. Then, the affidavit said, he “savagely beat” the police officer in the head with his closed hands.
Police wrote that Price stopped the door while the two continued to fight. The police officer told him she didn’t want to hurt him to try to calm him down. He is said to have replied, “I’m an assassin.”
The affidavit said that two officers from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office went into the house and beat Price up. From the statement, it looks like they finally put him in handcuffs after tasing him.
Police say one of the deputies broke two fingers and the officer’s head swelled up. The document says that officers found a small plastic baggie that they thought contained methamphetamine.
Among Price’s many charges are two counts of kidnapping, two counts of assault, and a criminal charge of resisting arrest. Police say he had been out of jail for about a week and was on parole for theft and third-degree domestic assault.