A man is accused of punching a St. Joseph Police Officer in the face causing serious injuries.

Marcus Paden, 27 is charged in Buchanan County with a felony for assault on a law enforcement officer.

According to court documents, on Tuesday an officer stopped a vehicle driven by Paden speeding in the area of Ashmat Ln. and Gene Field Rd.

“Upon conducting a traffic stop for the violation, the defendant was uncooperative and refused to identify himself,” said Det. Chase Cotter, with the St. Joseph Police Dept. “A second officer arrived on scene to assist and advised the defendant he was under arrest for obstructing.”

Another officer arrived on scene to assist and allegedly ordered Paden to exit the vehicle and Paden refused.

“He attempted to roll the windows on the vehicle up to further resist arrest,” Cotter said. “When a passenger attempted to exit the car, the defendant yelled at him to not get out.”

Chase said the officer at the driver’s side was able to open the door and deploy OC spray on Paden.

“When the officer removed the defendant from the driver’s seat, the defendant intentionally struck him on the head and face multiple times with a closed fist until he was tased by the other officer,” Chase said. “The officer who was assaulted sustained serious injuries to his head and hands which required immediate medical care, a brace and a CT scan.”

As we previously reported, Sgt. Steve Smith was injured during a traffic stop Tuesday night.

Chase said there was also a toddler in the vehicle with no child seat or seat belt on.

Paden has a prior felony conviction for tampering with a motor vehicle and an active case for non support.  Also, court documents state Paden is from St. Louis and does not currently have a job.

Bond for Paden has been set at $35,000.  An arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.