By Charles Hack
The Jersey Journal
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — A cop was treated for a hand injury after tussling with a teen-ager during a drug arrest, police said.
Maurice Washington, 19, of Union Street in Jersey City, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and drug charges, cops said.
Responding to reports of a dealer in the area, police saw what appeared to be a drug transaction between Washington and a person on a bike on Martin Luther King Drive near Oak Street on Thursday around 10:25 a.m., reports said.
When challenged by the cops, Washington threw a red-capped vial containing suspected cocaine to the ground, “stiffed armed” a cop and ran, reports said.
He was grabbed a short distance away, but continued struggling with police as they tried to handcuff him until he could be subdued, reports said.
The officer was treated at Jersey City Medical Center for an injured right hand and Washington was treated for a cut above his left eye, reports said.
In addition to the red-capped vial, cops also found another container of suspected cocaine and a bag of suspected heroin labeled “crank,” reports said.
An officer later returned to the area where police had allegedly seen Washington stash a white object during the drug transaction, and there, the officer found a bundle of 11 bags of suspected heroin, reports said. Seven bags were labeled “crank,” and four were labeled “big boy.”
Police questioned and released the man on the bicycle, who said he was just selling cigarettes.
Copyright 2007 The Jersey Journal