A Peel police constable has been suspended following an incident that left his superior officer bloodied and injured in Mississauga.

Const. Stephen Dudzinski has been suspended with pay following the incident with Sgt. John Rocha at 12 Division on Dixie Road in Mississauga on Dec. 9.

It’s believed Rocha, a longtime Peel cop, questioned Dudzinski’s fitness for duty during a shift and the officer took a breathalyzer test and presented the results to the sergeant proving otherwise, according to a police source.

The two then got into a physical fight in which the constable punched the sergeant, giving him a bloody nose, the source said.

Dudzinski has been suspended pending the outcome of the internal investigation.

Peel Sgt. Matt Bertram didn’t get into specifics about the incident and didn't confirm or deny the information about the breathalyzer because it’s an ongoing investigation, adding that “incidents like this are very rare and certainly we take them seriously.”

“As soon as Chief Evans was made aware of the incident, Cst. Stephen Dudzinski was suspended from duty with pay as per provisions of the Police Services Act and an investigation into the incident was initiated by our Professional Standards Bureau. To date no charges have been laid,” Bertram said in an email. “We cannot provide any further details about the incident to preserve the integrity of the internal investigation.”

Rocha, a 40-year veteran of the police service, received accolades earlier this year when he and other officers rescued a man from a burning car in Mississauga and effectively saved his life, said police.

