ALEXANDRIA, Ind. — An Indiana man was arrested last week after being accused of slapping his 2-month-old baby while babysitting and then injuring a cop while resisting arrest.

Zentrail Nathaniel Ejiasa, an 18-year-old Alexandria man, was arrested by local police last Friday and was preliminarily charged with battery against a family member under 14 years old.

The investigation into Ejiasa began around 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 25 when Alexandria Police Department officers were called to the 600 block of West Jefferson Street on report of a baby being battered.

Officers soon found a man matching the suspect description, later identified as Ejiasa, in an alleyway near the home. According to a probable cause affidavit, Ejiasa appeared “agitated” and tried to walk away from officers.

APD officers attempted to detain Ejiasa but claimed he resisted by folding his arms across his chest and not taking off his backpack. Eventually, officers said they “took [Ejiasa] to the ground,” removed his backpack and handcuffed him.

According to APD, this altercation injured an officer.

“As a result of [Ejiasa]’s actions, [an APD officer]’s thumb was injured and he had to be treated at a MedCheck facility,” court docs read.

Officers then spoke with the great-aunt of the infant victim, who said she had left Ejiasa in charge of his healthy 2-month-old baby girl around 8 a.m. that morning. When she returned around 9:15 a.m., the great-aunt said the baby was injured.

Responding APD officers took photos of the infant’s injuries, which included trauma on the lower right lip and four lines of bruising along the left side of her face stretching from her left eye to her left ear. Ejiasa claimed the injury was an accident and that he wasn’t involved.

“According to [Ejiasa], he fell asleep with [the infant] on the couch and she fell off the couch landing on a plug strip,” court docs show. Photos were also taken of the plug strip by the couch.

Officers contacted officials with the IU Child Protection Program at Riley’s Hospital for Children, who determined that the infant’s injuries were not consistent with falling off of a couch onto a plug strip.

In fact, one doctor concluded that the baby’s injuries were the result of “blunt force trauma to the face characteristic of a slap mark” and that the victim must undergo a physical examination, a skeletal survey, a head CT and several other lab tests.

When confronted by officers with this assessment from Riley, police reported that Ejiasa said he was not going to admit to slapping the baby and that the interview did not progress further.

According to court records, Ejiasa was then arrested on an outstanding warrant from Grant County for allegedly pointing a firearm.

He was also preliminarily charged with felony domestic battery against a family member under the age of 14, neglect of a dependent and resisting law enforcement.

While formal, official charges have not yet been filed against Ejiasa, court records indicate that this will likely happen on Thursday, Aug. 31.