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HELENA - An East Helena police officer is on administrative leave after he was cited for punching a 70-year-old man following a car collision.

Robert John Gutowski, 27, was off-duty when he was involved in a four-vehicle crash on Montana Avenue on Wednesday afternoon. Helena police cited Gutowski the next day for misdemeanor assault for allegedly punching the 70-year-old East Helena man multiple times in the arm, causing minor injury.

Gutowksi appeared in Helena Municipal Court on Thursday and entered a plea of not guilty to the charge. His next court appearance is slated for Oct. 12.

As of Monday, Gutowski remained on administrative leave pending an investigation by the East Helena officials, said East Helena Police Chief Dale Aschim.

Aschim said Gutowski, a patrol officer, will stay on leave due to the citation until the query is completed.

"We're looking into it," he said. "We're trying to see what happened."

Aschim said this is the first time his department has been in a similar situation with Gutowski and in general. He declined to comment further on the scenario in light of the ongoing investigation.

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