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The incident unfolded at around 4:20 p.m. Thursday, April 18, on the Southern State Parkway in Hempstead.
Police said a trooper stopped a Honda sedan for an expired registration near exit 18. As they approached the vehicle, the driver, 33-year-old Calith Hudson, of Jamaica, Queens, became verbally combative.
The trooper then asked Hudson for his driver’s license, at which point he reportedly threw his license on the ground and climbed over the front passenger seat and got out of the car.
After ignoring the trooper’s commands to remain in the vehicle, Hudson punched the officer in the face with a closed fist, police said. The two then got into a physical altercation on the side of the highway.
Moments later, several drivers stopped and helped the trooper get Hudson into handcuffs. Video from an officer-worn body camera shows at least three people came to the trooper’s aid.
Both Hudson and the trooper were taken to the hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Hudson is charged with assault, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental administration.
In a statement issued Monday, April 22, New York State Police thanked the good Samaritans for coming to the trooper’s defense and likely preventing more serious injuries.
“Every day in law enforcement, there is no such thing as ‘a routine traffic stop.’ In this instance what one may call a ‘routine’ traffic stop, led to a physical altercation and a trooper becoming injured,” the agency said.
“Highway safety is a partnership between law enforcement and the community at large. If not for the efforts of these good Samaritans, our trooper potentially could have been seriously injured.”
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