Police in the Bahamas arrested five U.S. nationals at a cruise port this week after an altercation with passengers and a violent struggle at a police station that left four officers injured, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said Thursday.
The incident began Monday in the Nassau Cruise Port area, when the five individuals — three women and two men — became involved in a physical altercation with passengers from a cruise ship that was in port, according to a police news release. Officers who responded to the scene detained the group.
During a search at the police station, a “violent struggle” broke out between the suspects and officers, police said. One of the women threw a chair through a glass door, and one of the men then kicked out the remaining glass before trying to escape.
Four officers were injured in the confrontation. Two officers were struck in the body, a third was cut near the mouth, and a fourth officer sustained a serious injury to his left shoulder and was hospitalized, the RBPF said.
Police said a person who informed them about the initial altercation with the cruise passengers was asked to come to the station to give a statement but declined the interview. Witnesses who could have provided statements were unable to do so because their cruise ship was scheduled to depart, the RBPF said.
“Due time constraints related to their cruise ship’s scheduled departure, the complainants were unable to provide official statements,” the police force said.
The five suspects remain in police custody and are being investigated in connection with both the initial altercation and the violence that occurred during their arrest. They face charges of assaulting a police officer, fighting in a public place, resisting arrest, malicious damage, and disorderly behavior in a police station.