Officer Injured With Bottle During Arrest in Zvezdara
The attack on a police officer in Zvezdara happened during the arrest of D. D. (47), who had smashed the windshield of bus 307. The injured officer (27) was taken to the Emergency Center.
A police officer, 27, was injured on Tuesday, August 13, during an arrest in Zvezdara. The attack on the officer happened outside a local cafe in Belgrade’s Zvezdara district, where patrols found a man suspected of attacking a city bus driver shortly before. The suspect was identified as D. D. (47), a man already known to police. The injured officer was taken to the Emergency Center in Belgrade.
What happened at the bus turnaround on Zivka Davidovica Street
The first part of the incident took place at the bus turnaround on Zivka Davidovica Street in Zvezdara. Under circumstances that are still unclear, the suspect attacked the driver of a bus on route 307. The windshield of the vehicle was smashed in the process.
The bus driver was not injured in the attack. The damage was limited to the vehicle.
The exact time of the attack has not been officially disclosed. It is known only that it happened on Tuesday and that police received a report soon afterward.
It has also not been disclosed whether there were passengers on the bus at the time of the attack, or whether any of them called the police. Officials have confirmed only that the driver was not hurt and that the bus was damaged.
How the arrest unfolded
Police patrols went out immediately after the report and began searching for the attacker. The man was soon located outside a local cafe in Zvezdara, close to where the bus had been damaged.
He put up fierce resistance when officers tried to arrest him. He struck the 27 year old officer in the head with a glass bottle, cutting his forehead just above the eye.
Officers then subdued him and placed him in handcuffs. The injured officer was taken to the Emergency Center by ambulance. It has not been disclosed how his injury was medically assessed or how long he was held for treatment.
What happens next
The competent prosecutor’s office has been notified of the case. It will decide on the legal classification of the offense and on whether criminal charges will be filed against the arrested man.
Until a final verdict, D. D. remains a suspect. Everything alleged against him is just that, an allegation. Guilt is established in court proceedings, not in a police statement or a news article.
It has not been disclosed whether he was ordered detained after the arrest, or which prosecutor’s office he was brought before.
What is still not known about the case
Several details remain open at this stage, and any of them could change the picture of what happened:
- the motive behind the attack on the bus driver, since the circumstances that led to it are still unclear
- whether the bus driver and the suspect had prior contact or whether the attack was random
- whether the suspect was under the influence of alcohol or psychoactive substances, since this has not been disclosed
- the suspect’s prior record, since it is known only that he had already come to police attention before
- whether the damage to the bus will be covered by the same report as the officer’s injury, or handled as a separate case
What has been established is the sequence of events: first the bus was damaged, then came the search, then resistance during the arrest and an injured officer. In a single chain of events, both a city bus driver and the police officer who responded to the call were attacked.
Attacks on officials performing their duties are prosecuted ex officio in Serbia, so the injured officer does not need to file a complaint himself. The further course of the case depends on the prosecutor’s decision.
