Sunday, May 9, 2010

BPD: Palmetto man eats cocaine, bites officer during arrest


MANATEE — A 31-year-old man was released from jail after he allegedly bit a Bradenton Police Department officer who was trying to remove a bag of cocaine from his mouth during an arrest, according to reports.

Christopher L. Hill, of Palmetto, was stopped in a car Thursday after he ran a stop sign at 13th Street West and 21st Avenue West, according to an arrest report.

Hill evaded a police officer before finally stopping in the 2100 block of Ninth Street West. When searching for weapons inside the vehicle, officers found an open can of Natural Ice and what appeared to be rock cocaine.

Inside Hill’s pocket were three bags of powder cocaine, the report stated.

In handcuffs, Hill lunged forward on to the hood of the car and “with his mouth started to suck and use his tongue to get all three baggies in his mouth,” according to the report.

Three officers struggled with Hill to remove the baggies, but he swallowed two of them, according to the report.

He managed to bite one officer on the hand and kick another, according to the report.

Hill later said “he was sorry and that he tried to get rid of the baggies because he is trying to change his life around,” according to the report.

Hill was convicted of fleeing to elude and cocaine possession in 2007, according to court records.

He now faces a total of 12 charges, including drug possession, destruction of evidence and battery on a law enforcement officer.

-- BETH BURGER, bburger@bradenton.com

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