A soldier stationed in Vicenza, Italy, received a suspended one-year jail sentence just hours after he was arrested for assaulting two Italian police officers at a local strip club early Thursday morning, according to Stars and Stripes.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade soldier, who pleaded guilty to injury, insult, and resistance to public officials, was identified by Italian media as Keshaun Ross.
Brigade officials declined to confirm his name or provide his rank, but they did confirm his sentence and status, Stars and Stripes reported. They also declined to discuss whether he would continue his military service.
“This incident does not reflect the values of the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, its leadership, or its soldiers,” Lt. Col. John Hall, a brigade spokesman, said in an email to Stars and Stripes. “The 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team strives to be an organization whose members are respectful of the Vicenza community.”
Strip club security called police when Ross, 21, reportedly “flipped out” in the club, according to Stripes, citing Italian newspaper il Giornale di Vicenza. Police arrived to calm him down, but Ross punched one of the police officers in the face as he exited the vehicle, breaking one of his teeth.
“Not even the pepper spray could stop him,” wrote Il Giornale. “Only after a hand-to-hand fight, the policemen succeeded in handcuffing him and putting him in their vehicle.”
Ross, represented by a local lawyer, was released to the brigade after the judge suspended the one-year jail sentence on the condition that he commit no further crimes.
