Officer on leave after fight with ex-girlfriend

A Little Rock police officer was placed on paid leave, accused of purposely cutting his arm during an argument with his ex- girlfriend, according to a police report.

Little Rock police spokesman officer Eric Barnes confirmed Friday officer Ahmed “Jack” Soliman, 39, was placed on paid leave in late September and awaits the outcome of an internal investigation into the incident.

According to a police report, Little Rock officers responded on Sept. 23 to an apartment complex, where a neighbor told police she heard Soliman and the woman arguing.

When officers knocked on the woman’s door, the report said she opened it and said, “Soliman your friends are here.”

Officers separated the two and said Soliman explained it was only an argument, but police later found Soliman had taken his ex-girlfriend’s phone and sent several text messages to people on her contact list without her permission. The woman told police she and Soliman had recently broken up.

Officers said when Soliman went back in the home, they heard the woman ask “Soliman, what are you doing?”

Officers rushed back into the house and saw the two people hugging, but noticed a cut on Soliman’s arm, the report said.

Soliman initially told officers the cut was an accident, but later said he’d done it to himself on purpose because he was angry. The woman later told officers Soliman grabbed a knife from the drawer and sliced his own arm earlier in the night, before police arrived.

Officers said there was a 4-inch scratch on Soliman’s arm, but it wasn’t serious enough to require medical attention.

Police officers said they had to assure the woman “we would handle this matter as we would any domestic call and Mr. Soliman would not get any special treatment,” because she was reluctant to talk with them, according to the report.

Officers said they advised the woman to get a restraining order, but no such order of protection and no criminal charges had been filed as of Friday night, according to court records.

Soliman has been with the department since at least 2013, according to court records.

Soliman initially told officers the cut was an accident, but later said he’d done it to himself on purpose because he was angry.