The man accused of punching a police officer while resisting arrest, causing a fracture of that officer’s orbital bone, changed his plea in the case to guilty Monday in court.
Officer Ian Fletcher was attempting to arrest 51-year-old Amos Lane in December of 2015 for violating his conditions of release for another case when the assault occurred. As the officer began to put Lane in the back of his patrol vehicle, Lane punched the officer several times in the face. He then fled the scene.
The prosecutor stated during the hearing that multiple police officers were required to subdue Lane in order to arrest him, even going so far as to use a Taser on him twice with no success and engaging in a “fist fight.”
Officer Fletcher was briefly hospitalized and required surgery for what court records show was a “blowout orbital fracture,” or fracture of the bone surrounding the eye socket. The prosecutor stated Fletcher was still suffering from the injury, and his job was directly affected by the injury. Lane’s defense team acknowledged restitution in the case may go to Fletcher for pay lost during the roughly three to four weeks he was not able to work due to the injury.
Lane pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted assault for the incident Monday, along with charges from two other cases involving felony drunk driving. Judge Michael Corey accepted his pleas and gave Lane a chance to address the court.
“My apologies to Mr. Fletcher and family, community,” Lane said. “Heartfelt remorse. I’m thankful nobody got hurt anymore than what’s been said. I will take this and we’ll move on with our lives.”
Judge Corey sentenced Lane to three years with no probation for the assault on Officer Fletcher. He also stated Lane would be required to pay restitution to Fletcher, to be “sought” within the next 90 days.
For the felony drunk driving case, Judge Corey sentenced Lane to another three years, along with 12 additional months of revoked probation from an earlier case. As Lane was intoxicated in both DUI cases and the assault case, Judge Corey recommended Lane attend a substance abuse treatment program while serving his time.
“In my mind, I think community condemnation and reaffirmance of societal norms is right near the top, if not the top. We need to send the message that the courts will not tolerate people engaging in this kind of conduct. Period,” the judge told the court. “It just can’t be tolerated and I think that it is important that the community understands that the courts are in touch with what’s really going on out there in the street and we deliver the message in the best way we can.”
