CLARENDON, Jamaica – A municipal policeman was expected to be released from hospital on Tuesday, a day after he was hit in the head with a stone in May Pen, Clarendon.

Mayor of May Pen, Councillor Winston Maragh, revealed that the injured cop was admitted to hospital Monday night.

“They did a scan this morning again to find out if there is any clot. He is in high spirits. He should be out sometime today,” Mayor Maragh told OBSERVER ONLINE.

A video of the incident, which has gone viral on social media, showed the man, said to be the leader of a team patrolling the area, falling to the ground after being caught by the stone.

The mayor said the injured man was not even a part of the altercation. He explained the team leader was in a vehicle when officers saw a vendor selling on the roadway and warned that her goods could be seized.

He said the vendor and officers got into an argument and the team leader came out of the vehicle to make peace.

“He came out of the vehicle to kind of pacify the altercation so he was parting them only for someone outside of the crowd to fling this stone into his head,” Maragh said.

He added that the Parish Council rented the old police station for vendors to go to, but they continue to peddle on the main street and this cannot be allowed.

“We don’t want any vending along Main Street during this season because we found out when we allow this, you have a lot of robberies taking place,” the mayor explained. “Thieves use that opportunity to hide in the crowd and rob the elderly who collect their little money at the ATMs. When we don’t have any vending on Main Street, we don’t have any robbery.”

He said added to this is that when the vendors crowd Main Street, there are no spaces for pedestrians or even people using wheelchairs.