Cop has impromptu boxing match with teen after noise complaint
Not all superheroes wear capes, apparently.
A Texas police officer nicknamed “Blade” after Marvel Comics’ vampire hunter is being lauded as a real champ when he was caught on video during an impromptu boxing match with a teen after responding to a noise complaint.
Officer Winston Bowen squared up with the unidentified teenager at Hillcrest Apartments in Mesquite on Memorial Day. The longtime recreational boxer said he couldn’t turn down an invitation to show off his less-lethal guns after getting challenged to a sparring match.
“They were having a little barbeque, they were playing some music, and there some kids out there with some gloves,” Bowen told KTVT. “There’s this perception that police officers have guns, we have a badge, but we can’t fight.”
The video, which had been viewed more than 1.8 million times on Facebook as of Wednesday, shows a group of teens standing atop a car as Bowen rushes the youngster, but doesn’t land a direct shot.
Bowen then dominates the teen with a flurry of jabs and haymakers, drawing jeers from onlookers in the apartment complex’s parking lot. But Bowen’s show of force ends without a major blow as the teen tries his best to save face among his friends.
The unscripted main event ends when Bowen’s radio is knocked off his hip, video shows. A throng of witnesses, including several young children, then rush both Bowen and the teen to congratulate them.
One witness told KTVT that “everybody” in the neighborhood loves Bowen.
“When he pulls up, they’re like, ‘Aw, there’s Officer Blade,’” De’Ovion Tutt told the station, adding that he thought the officer won the brief match.
The Mesquite Police Association also praised Bowen, a 14-year department veteran who has been boxing since he was just 13.
“We’re so proud of our officers and their level of involve in our city,” the association posted on its website. “Mesquite is so fortunate to have officers like this that fully engage with the communities they serve!”
Not everyone was in Bowen’s corner, however.
“[On-duty] police officers while in uniform should never display this lack of authority, it is a bad example of department discipline,” one man posted on Facebook. “I admire this officer for having the courage to box this young man but not while in uniform. I trust the police chief feels the same as this puts this officers at great disadvantage if things turn bad.”
Lt. Brian Parrish, a police spokesman, said Bowen left the scene after the match and returned with chips and sodas for the teens.