HOLMES BEACH – A man was arrested for resisting an officer with violence and transported to the Manatee County Jail after injuring a city police officer at a shopping plaza, according to a police report.
The incident occurred on Oct. 20 at around 2:05 a.m. While patrolling a shopping plaza in the 3300 block of East Bay Drive, Officer Andrew Adkins said he saw a man standing next to the door of Cheesecake Cutie and Cafe.
“Upon sight of my marked patrol vehicle, he began walking away from the door,” Adkins said in his report. “I turned around and got out with the subject, later identified as Kevin McNamara, on the sidewalk of the restaurant. It should be noted I was in full police uniform. I asked him what he was doing, and he explained he was walking home from work and stopped to meet with a friend. I looked and did not see anyone else.”
Adkins said he tried to explain to McNamara, 35, of Sarasota, that what he was doing was suspicious since all of the businesses in the plaza were closed and the area was private property. McNamara argued that it was public property, and he had a right to be there, becoming agitated, according to the report.
When asked for his ID, McNamara began searching through a bag but became more agitated and eventually threw the bag at Adkins and told him to find it. Adkins dumped the contents of the bag on a table and, while doing so, McNamara approached him, becoming more agitated as he was told to stand back.
“I tried to get him to step back but he took a slightly bladed stance, clinched his fists, and got less than a foot away from me. Kevin was visibly angry and told me twice to ‘do something, bro,’ ” Adkins wrote in his report. “At this point, I felt that violence against me was about to take place, so I told him he was under arrest. Kevin turned around and I went to put his hands behind his back, but he quickly spun back around towards me and punched me on my left side. I grabbed ahold of Kevin to try and gain control, but he also grabbed ahold of me. I struggled to get control of him because he was also trying to control me, and we fell to the ground.”
McNamara refused to comply with orders to stop resisting arrest, according to the report. Another office arrived at the scene and the two officers were able to get McNamara in handcuffs. In McNamara’s bag, the officers found his ID along with two hypodermic syringes and two knives.
Adkins sustained injuries including lacerations to his head and neck.
McNamara requested medics for a high heart rate that he felt was getting worse, so Manatee County EMS was called. EMS came and cleared him, and he refused further treatment.
