BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) - Police in Southeast Texas say an officer shot and killed a robbery suspect after he grabbed the officer's baton and began beating him with it.
The incident happened shortly after midnight Monday at a Beaumont motel on Interstate 10. Police Chief Jimmy Singletary tells KBMT-TV in Beaumont that Crederick Joseph of Opelousas, Louisiana, was assaulting the motel clerk in a robbery attempt when the officer arrived. As the officer was trying to handcuff the suspect, Joseph grabbed the officer's baton off his belt and began beating the officer with it.
Singletary says it was at that point the officer shot the 37-year-old man.
The officer was treated at a hospital for severe facial lacerations and was placed on paid leave pending an investigation. The clerk suffered minor injuries.
