A few days ago in Birmingham, Alabama, a detective was on his way to interview a witness to a robbery. He saw an SUV with two people in it driving erratically and made a traffic stop. He told the driver to stay in the car. The detective called for another officer to take over so that he could get to his witness interview. As he was on the call, the driver exited the car against the officer’s directive. The driver became aggressive, rapidly approached the detective and demanded to know why he was stopped. The detective considered using force to subdue the driver but quickly decided against it. The driver then sucker punched the detective, took his service revolver and pistol whipped him, beating him until he was unconscious. The detective was  sent to the hospital with a bloody head injury that required 15-17 stitches. The driver fled the scene.

After the attack, bystanders did not come the aid of the officer. They stood around laughing and taking pictures. They posted the pictures on line with accompanying commentary.