Teenager allegedly punches man, taunts and throws rocks at police

A teenager allegedly punched a man at a store in Koblerville then taunted and threw rocks at a pursuing police officer early Monday morning.

The suspect, Jaswin Peter, 18, was subsequently arrested by two other responding police officers.

Peter was brought to the Superior Court yesterday on charges of two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of disturbing the peace.

Associate Judge Kenneth Govendo ordered that bail be kept at $6,250 cash, as the court had earlier imposed.

Govendo appointed the Public Defender’s Office to represent Peter and set the preliminary hearing for Feb. 11 at 9am.

Detective Simon T. Manacop stated in his report that police officers responded to David Store in Koblerville shortly after the Department of Public Safety received a call about a disturbance on Monday at 1:01am.

When the officers arrived at the store, the victim, Zhen Cai, pointed at two male persons who were walking east toward the street. Cai told the officers that one of the two males punched him in the face.

The officers were able to stop one male but the other, later identified as Peter, ran away.

Peter, however, returned and, holding two fist-size rocks, approached the officers. As Peter got close, Sgt. Alfred Celes drew his firearm and ordered the suspect to put down the rocks.

Peter ran away, prompting Police Officer Tarimai Yangetmai to chase him. During the chase, the suspect stopped a couple of yards from the officer.

Officer Yangetmai ordered Peter to place the rocks down, but the suspect instead taunted the officer and egged him to chase him further.

As Yangetmai moved closer, the suspect threw the rocks at him. The officer ducked to avoid the rocks.

Two other responding officers later spotted Peter near Fire Station 4 and arrested him.

Cai told investigators that prior to the attack, he was inside David Store when he heard someone knocking on the window. When Cai opened the door and asked Peter what he wanted, the suspect replied, “What?”

Cai advised Peter to leave the store, but the suspect allegedly punched him on the face.

Cai walked out the store and fought with Peter. The victim then called the police.

It was not clear in the report whether Peter’s companion was also arrested.