Injured police officer keeps his job

STALLINGS, N.C. -- A police officer severely beaten on the job will stay on the force now that the Town of Stallings approved two new positions.

Sgt. Mike Kane was going to lose his job if the town approved only one position.

The one position initially in the town’s budget was for an officer who could work nights and rotate shifts.

That's something Kane cannot do due to the brain injury he suffered last July.

"He hit me with a closed fist just right above my eyes," Kane said, recounting his attack while stopping two thieves carrying stolen electronics from two Union County churches.

His beating went from a suspect's fist to his own baton. The suspect grabbed it during the attack. Kane was hit twice in the head with the baton. He caught the man, despite losing feeling in his hands.

His brain injury is still healing.

"Those couple of months have been a blur to me," Kane said about his memory after the attack. He says he cannot recall some conversations with his wife.

"I'm kind of do or die tonight," he said while waiting to learn his fate.

The second position Chief Larke Plyler asked for is one that incorporates community policing initiatives plus patrols when other officers are in court handling cases.

Plyler says that position is not created specifically for Sgt. Kane, but says Kane is immensely qualified for the job.

The issue Monday was paying for it.

Stallings Mayor Lynda Paxson said the town's police department is already adequately staffed and other town needs have been neglected. Some neighbors say the money could be better spent.

"Street improvements and parks,” one opponent said.

In the end, the town approved two new positions, one more than it initially budgeted. Kane will work days. After his beating, he says he's happy this wasn't adding insult to injury.