An Alexandria man was arrested Sunday for allegedly punching a Customs and Border Patrol Canine Enforcement officer in the face.
David Gerald, 30, has been charged with assaulting a federal law enforcement officer.
Court documents say that after Gerald and his girlfriend, Ashley Smith, arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport on a flight from Amsterdam, a narcotics detector dog alerted authorities to Smith.
The documents say Gerald "became uncooperative and argumentative" and tried to pet the dog.
When questioned, he said in "a sarcastic and uncooperative manner" that he had large amounts of marijuana, methamphetamine and heroin; a search of his luggage revealed a pipe with marijuana residue, according to court documents.
Gerald then hit the officer as he tried to leave, the documents say.
"Mr. Gerald is accused of escalating what started as a routine narcotics enforcement operation into a more serious offense by physically assaulting a federal law enforcement officer," said Christopher Hess, CBP Port Director at Dulles. "...We're hopeful that the threat of federal charges deters others from attempting to injure law enforcement officers."
