A disorderly patron allegedly struck a deputy police chief inside the Poker Room at the Rockingham Park racetrack after management asked him to leave at about 10:15 p.m. on Sept. 23.

According to police, 30- year-old Christopher McNeil of Danvers, Mass., refused to comply with racetrack management, and when Deputy Police Chief William Ganley, on detail in the Poker Room that night, stepped in, McNeil began punching him in the face.

Police said Ganley used his Taser to subdue McNeil and take him into custody. Left uninjured from the assault, authorities said Ganley was able to finish out the rest of his detail without medical attention.

According to Capt. Shawn Patten, the racetrack regularly pays for a police detail, which keeps problems at a minimum. While officers report the occasional trouble at the racetrack, Patten said incidents like McNeil’s assault on Ganley were the exception, not the rule.

McNeil has been charged with simple assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and criminal threatening. He was released on $500 cash bail pending arraignment at Salem District Court.