COLUMBUS, Ohio — A man is charged for allegedly punching a Columbus police officer several times during a traffic stop on a highway early Saturday morning, according to court documents.
A police report states the assault happened just before 4:30 a.m. on Interstate 670 at Grandview Avenue just north of downtown Columbus.
According to the report, officer Justin Jones pulled up to a vehicle suspected to have left the scene of an accident and made contact with the driver.
Court records identified the driver as 20-year-old Sabab Islam.
Jones went back to his cruiser and then Islam started to walk to the cruiser as well, police wrote in the report.
After speaking with Islam, Jones decided to have him sit in the police cruiser for safety reasons. The incident report states that Islam then assaulted Jones while both were walking back to the cruiser.
According to a filing in Franklin County Municipal Court, Islam punched Jones "several times in the face." The records also state that Islam attempted to gouge the officer's right eye and wrestled him to the ground.
Jones was taken to Grant Medical Center for treatment and Islam was taken into custody. The Columbus Division of Police said Jones has since been released from the hospital.
Brian Steel, the executive vice president of the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, tweeted Saturday about the reported assault.
10TV reached out to Steel, who said that the FOP couldn't comment further on the assault due to it being a felony case.
10TV's review of police reports and court documents found that Islam was previously charged in a homicide case and an armed robbery case that occurred on the same day last year.
According to court documents, on Jan. 24, 2021, Islam was accused of robbing a man and woman at gunpoint outside a hotel room at the Budget Inn on Westerville Road and demanding a wallet and cell phone.
Later that day, police found a red Hyundai Tuscon that officers said was used in a homicide. Officers found the stolen items inside the vehicle and a suspect told police that the vehicle belonged to Islam.
Islam and Aboucar Toure were accused of fatally shooting 14-year-old Dayvion Jones on Hazelwood Road in Columbus on the same day. The two suspects were later found in the Detroit, Michigan area.
Islam was charged with murder and aggravated robbery in connection to the two incidents. On Feb. 27, 2021, he was arraigned on a $2 million bond for the murder charge.
On March 5, 2021, Islam's murder case ended in Franklin County Municipal Court but the judge ruled it could potentially continue in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. His bond in the murder case was also dismissed. As of April 10, there is no indictment filed for murder against Islam.
Toure was indicted for the murder and he is in custody in the Franklin County Jail.
Islam was indicted on one count of aggravated robbery and two counts of robbery, to which he pleaded not guilty.
On Sept. 10, he posted $7,500, which was 10% of a $75,000 bond, and was released from jail three days later.
Islam is scheduled to be arraigned for the felonious assault charge on Monday.