Man alleges police assuault after being booked for smoking inside snack bar

Emanuel Sapiano is alleging he was assaulted by a police constable when he refused to give him his personal details, after the constable threatened to fine him for smoking inside a catering establishment.

Sapiano claims he was smoking on the pavement outside the Maxims pastizzi shop in San Gwann while waiting for his nephew to purchase a snack.

The constable in question approached Sapiano and asked him for his personal details, accusing him of smoking inside the catering establishment.

Sapiano refused to give the police officer his details, and alleges that the constable assaulted him. “I told him I was not smoking inside and the constable immediately started dealing blows. I told him to let me pass but he wouldn't,” said Sapiano.

It appears that both the policeman and Sapiano ended up on the pavement in the scuffle that ensued, with Sapiano injuring his head as he fell to the floor.

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