ST. PAUL — A St. Paul police officer was charged Monday with punching a 14-year-old girl twice in the face after she spit on him while handcuffed in the back of a squad car.

Officer Michael Soucheray II faces a charge of misdemeanor assault. He was put on paid leave Monday.

His attorney, Peter Wold, said in a statement that Soucheray pushed the girl away and that he was acting in self-defense after the girl committed felony assault by spitting into Soucheray’s face. He says Soucheray, 38, reacted with reasonable force.

“Officer Soucheray regrets the attention this political reaction may bring to his fellow officers at the St. Paul Police Department and does assure them that he will defend himself vigorously against this unfortunate action,” Wold said.

According to the criminal complaint, officers were trying to take the girl to a hospital because she was reportedly suicidal, but she refused to go and became agitated, screaming and at one point going limp. Soucheray eventually pulled her into the squad car and sat her up.