Man found guilty of injuring off-duty WPD officer in 2018

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington man is going to prison after being found guilty of injuring an off-duty police officer in 2018.

A New Hanover County jury found Emin Eminof guilty Thursday in Superior Court after a three-day trial.

On June 17, 2018, Wilmington Police Department says the officer says he was in plain clothes with his family when he noticed a woman running across the 3500 block of Oleander Drive, the Independence Mall, into the Bank of America parking lot. She approached him and told him she had been assaulted by her boyfriend.

Police say the suspect, Emin Eminof, drove his vehicle into an adjacent parking lot behind the Chick-fil-A to continue the fight. The off-duty officer identified himself and showed his badge, and ordered the suspect to show his hands.

WPD says the suspect refused to comply and continued digging into the center console. The officer finally showed his weapon and got inside of the passenger side of the vehicle to try and keep Eminof from grabbing any potential weapons. Police say while the officer was partially inside the vehicle, Eminof drove off dragging the officer and then finally ejecting him from the car.

Eminof was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer, hit and run causing injury, and reckless driving to endanger.

He was sentenced to 15-27 months in prison, followed by two years supervised probation.