LAUDERHILL, FL– The Lauderhill Police department is reporting that one of their officers was maced by a suspect in a security uniform while making a traffic stop.
The incident occurred Sunday night between 19th and 24th streets.
According to the report, an officer noticed a driver in a dark-colored Toyota Corolla run through two stop signs on Northwest 55th Avenue.
The officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but the vehicle did not pull over until several blocks later.
Once the vehicle stopped, the suspect got out of his vehicle and walked over to the officer’s vehicle holding a can of mace.
“[The driver] gets out of the car as he stops right here and, like, just storms out of the [expletive] car, comes right over to me,” said the officer, “and I see the badge. I’m like, ‘What the [expletive is going on? Did I pull over an undercover [officer], you know?’ But then I can see he’s, like, sweating, and he’s just weird.”
The officer asked the suspect several times to put down the mace, however, the suspect refused to do so.
The officer then threatened to tase the suspect if he refused to follow orders but the suspect threatened to mace the officer if he did.
The officer pulled out his taser and the suspect and officer deployed their weapons at the same time.
Despite being maced, the officer was able to put the suspect in handcuffs and waited until backup arrived.
“The officer utilized extreme restraint in that particular situation,” said Lauderhill Police Maj. Mike Santiago about the situation. “There were other obvious signs of something else going on. Aside from the uniform, there was also the behavior of the suspect where it appeared that he may have been under the influence of something. We just don’t know at this particular time, but the officer found it best to utilize his Taser as opposed to going lethal use in this particular situation.”
Bodden was taken to the Broward County Jail. He was released after paying his $16,000 bond.