Man charged with assaulting cops

WINCHESTER -- A local man was charged with assaulting law enforcement officers during a traffic stop early Friday morning, according to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office.

Deputy D.M. Bowers stopped a vehicle in the 1000 block of Millwood Pike, near Delco Plaza, shortly after 3 a.m., Maj. Robert "Robbie" Eckman said. Bowers had seen the vehicle pull away from the QuickStop, which minutes before had been entered by a man holding a gun who tried to rob the business but fled before he got any money.

Bowers, a K-9 officer, took the juvenile driver's license, Eckman said.

A passenger in the vehicle, identified later as John A. Comeau III, 18, of the 500 block of Front Royal Pike, "walked up to the deputy and threw a baggie containing marijuana into the deputy's face and shouted some obscenities, then started punching the deputy in the face," Eckman said.

Deputies B. Davis and Z. Hawkins arrived to help Bowers try to subdue Comeau, followed by officers from the Winchester Police Department, Eckman said.

Authorities eventually took Comeau into custody and arrested him. He was taken to the Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center, where he was being held on two counts of assault and battery of a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana.

Daily Staff Report