A holiday in Nashville turned into a roadside fight for a British police sergeant who helped save an American officer under attack.

Off-duty Sergeant Taylor Johanson, from Ashford in Kent, had been out of Nashville airport for about 10 minutes when he saw a police car parked on the I-440 exit ramp at about 8pm on May 7 and two people “fighting on the floor”.

“We had been out of the airport for about ten minutes,” the 34-year-old said.

“As I was driving on the exit ramp I saw the police car parked up and could see two people fighting on the floor.

“I stopped my car to see what was going on. The suspect was on top of the officer and he was head-butting him, punching him, biting him.”

Johanson said the officer, later identified as Officer Peter Kinsey, was being assaulted by a 43-year-old pedestrian, who managed to grab the officer’s gun and fire a round while it was still holstered.

Johanson tackled the suspect and held him down until Officer Kinsey was able to use his Taser and handcuff him. His girlfriend Emily, who is also a constable in England, called local police and asked for backup.

“I hadn’t really thought about it to be honest. It was only really afterwards when I realized the gravity of what was going on,” Sgt. Johanson told SWNS news.

“Natural instinct kicked in, and that fight or flight.”

Officer Kinsey reported that he had seen the pedestrian walking along the exit ramp and went to check on him after commands to stop were ignored. As he approached, the man attacked him and pinned him face-down for around six minutes in what Kinsey described as a “traumatic” ordeal.

Bodycam footage shows the struggle before Johanson runs in and asks, “Are you okay?”

Kinsey said: “It is probably the closest near-death experience I can say I have had, and probably the most traumatic. It’s very scary. I knew he was going for my gun.

“The thoughts going through my head was he’s not getting my gun away from me and I’m just going to have to hang on.”

Johanson and Emily were in Nashville on a six-day trip to visit his sister and see local attractions. He said they had pulled over a few minutes before the incident to put some music on, and that if they had not, he would not have seen the attack.

“This was supposed to be a relaxing holiday away from my children, but it started off quite the opposite!” he said.

“It is a bit like divine intervention. It was definitely the right place at the right time and I am glad it was me… Everyone was just driving past.

“Six minutes in that situation is horrendous. It is a long time. If I had driven away and the officer had died, I don’t think I would be able to forgive myself.”

Johanson was later invited to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department station, where he met officers including Police Chief John Drake, Officer Kinsey and Kinsey’s wife.

The department gave him challenge coins and a police blanket, and said it would send him an engraved watch that usually goes to officers who have served 30 years.

“Our police department is beyond grateful to Sgt. Johanson for stopping to assist Officer Kinsey, and actively engaging to subdue the man who was assaulting him,” Chief Drake said.

“The suspect had already managed to get his finger into the trigger guard and fire a round from the officer’s holstered pistol.

“He miraculously appeared when Officer Kinsey needed help. I believe he likely saved our officer’s life.”

Johanson, who has served with Kent Police for nine years and works in the Community Safety Unit, has since returned home and said he is staying in touch with some of the Nashville officers.

“You are a police officer all the time whether you are on holiday or not,” he said.

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