Home Police and Fire Breaking News Criminal defendant injures Southold cop during scuffle in town courtroom

Criminal defendant injures Southold cop during scuffle in town courtroom

A homeless man being arraigned on criminal trespass and other charges in Southold Justice Court injured a Southold police officers during a struggle in the courtroom.

Police said Michael Davis, 22, undomiciled, became agitated and unruly during his arraignment before Justice William Price, according to police. The judge ordered Davis released on his own recognizance, but he began making threats to himself and others and had to be taken back into custody, police said. He got into a struggle with police officers and court officers and caused injury to Police Officer Christopher Salmon, according to the police report.

Davis was taken back to Southold Police headquarters and charged with second-degree assault and obstruction of governmental administration. He was held overnight and will be arraigned on those charges tomorrow, police said.

Davis was in court to begin with this morning after his arrest on charges of criminal trespass, menacing, criminal mischief, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration in connection with an incident on Main Street in Greenport.

Davis and his girlfriend, Nyasia Coach, 20, also undomiciled, had unlawfully entered a residence on Main Street and when confronted by the homeowner, produced an air pistol that appeared to be a real gun, according to the report. Davis was highly agitated and resisted arrest, damaging a police radio, police said. Coach tried to prevent officers from arresting Davis, police said. She was charged with obstruction of governmental administration.

Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. By law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

SHARE
Denise Civiletti
Denise is a veteran local reporter and editor, an attorney and former Riverhead Town councilwoman. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including a “writer of the year” award from the N.Y. Press Association in 2015. She is a founder, owner and co-publisher of this website.