photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A Lawrence Police Department patrol vehicle is pictured June 28, 2022.

A man accused of breaking a Lawrence police officer’s nose has been charged with three crimes in the case and has been ordered to undergo a competency exam to see whether he is fit to stand trial.

The officer is recovering and hopes to be back on the streets before the New Year, the Journal-World has learned. Laura McCabe, a spokeswoman for the Lawrence Police Department, said Tuesday that surgeons had corrected the damage to the officer’s face and that her nasal cast and splints were removed Monday.

Jeffrey Montgomery Smith, 61, of Eudora, was arrested the morning of Dec. 7 and now faces one count of aggravated battery against a law enforcement officer and one count of criminal threat against another individual, both felonies. He also faces one misdemeanor count of criminal damage to property, which is listed in the charging document as a Christmas wreath.

As the Journal-World reported, police were called to a disturbance in the 2400 block of Melrose Lane about 8:30 a.m. Dec. 7, when the officer witnessed a man aggressively approaching another person. When the officer tried to speak with him, the man attacked her, punching her several times in the face, according to the Lawrence Police Department. The other person helped get the suspect on the ground as backup units arrived, police said.

Police in a Facebook post described the suspect, later identified as Smith, as “uncooperative and a danger to himself and others” and said he was taken to the hospital to be sedated before being taken to the Douglas County Jail.

Smith remains in the Douglas County Jail, with bond set at $40,000 cash or surety. Last week, Judge Stacey Donovan found that there’s reason to believe Smith is incompetent to stand trial and ordered a psychiatric examination, to be conducted by Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center.