Imagine driving down the highway, only to end up in a heated roadside clash with a man who hauls off and punches you. Then when his uniformed backup arrives, you realize he is a police officer. That’s exactly what happened when Shane Price crossed paths with Inspector Jonathan Mellor, sparking a dramatic and controversial incident.

A drive gets ugly

The altercation happened on May 26, 2021, along the A46 near Newark in the United Kingdom. Price claimed Mellor’s erratic driving had irritated him, prompting him to signal Mellor to pull over. Mellor, who was on duty but in his personal car and wearing a zipped civilian jacket over his uniform, obliged. As Price exited his truck and approached Mellor, tensions rose.

In video footage filmed by Price’s wife, the encounter escalated quickly. Price repeatedly asked Mellor, “What are you doing?” as Mellor pushed him toward a grass verge. The officer later defended his actions, saying, “I feel I’m the victim here. I’m not the aggressor or the offender.”

What followed shocked everyone watching. Mellor punched Price in the face, stomped on his foot, and pinned him against a fence. Price shouted, “Take your hand off my throat!” Mellor claimed his hand was on Price’s shoulder, not his throat. “If I’d have punched him with my full force, I would have knocked him out,” Mellor argued during his misconduct hearing.

Mellor defended his use of force as a necessary “distraction strike” to regain control. “I’m going for the red area, the face, but I’m mitigating that as a distraction strike,” he explained. Price didnt’ agree. He claimed the attack was unprovoked. Price also said he he feared for his life.

Backup arrived minutes later, but the situation took another controversial turn. Price claimed officers “laughed and joked” with Mellor as his wife called 999 to report the assault. Mellor denied this, maintaining he acted to protect himself from a perceived threat.

The fallout: Misconduct hearings and public debate

The court found Mellor guilty of common assault in 2022, but the matter didn’t end there. A misconduct hearing determined his actions were “entirely unnecessary, unreasonable and disproportionate.” Panel chair Jennifer Ferrario noted, “The level of force used had been unjustified and could have been easily avoided.”

Mellor’s lawyer, Hunter Gray, argued the process was unfair. “Promises were made to Mr Mellor repeatedly that he would not be subject to disciplinary procedures,” Gray stated. But the panel ruled that the hearing was in the public interest, despite Mellor’s retirement.

The confrontation left questions unanswered and reputations scarred. Was it justified force, or did emotions overtake professionalism? One thing is clear: the debate isn’t over yet.