A man was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital early Wednesday morning after a scuffle with a Lawrence police officer outside a west Lawrence grocery store.

Lawrence police spokesman Sgt. Bill Cory said that at 1:10 a.m. Wednesday, a police officer writing a report in the parking lot of Hy-Vee, 4000 W. Sixth St., saw a man walk behind his patrol car.

The officer saw the man pull an object that resembled a pistol from his pocket and point it at the patrol car, the release said. The officer sped away for his safety, then stopped, exited the car and confronted the man.

Cory said the man did not respond to the officer’s commands and the officer eventually used pepper spray in an attempt to subdue him. The pepper spray had no effect on the individual, and a physical altercation ensued, with the officer striking the man with his baton. The man attempted to grab items on the officer’s belt.

Other officers eventually arrived and were able to subdue the man. They found a toy revolver-style pistol in his right front pocket. Cory said the man made several incoherent statements and was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital for a mental evaluation.

No one was seriously injured in the scuffle.