The guy was trying to fight him and he was by himself. If a punch was going to subdue the CLEARLY combative person, then use it.
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The guy had a warrant out, but I'm not sure if you can just be like "hey you have a warrant come here" but once he broke a law, he was able to approach. My friend had a bench warrant he didn't know about for a very long time and we were both in the Army so it's not like they didn't know where he lived. He finally found out when he was speeding and got taken in for the warrant.
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No the cop did not.