Officers Bitten, Punched and Kicked Whilst Dealing with Domestic Incident
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Police were called to a report of a domestic related incident at a property on Belk Street in Hartlepool last night.
On police arrival, officers tried to escort a man out of a property when one officer was punched in the face and another was kicked and bitten.
Superintendent Sharon Cooney said: “Police put their lives at risk every day by protecting members of the public, and especially more so now with the crisis surrounding coronavirus.
“Attacking our officers whilst they are carrying out their duties is absolutely disgraceful. Police are under enough pressure keeping the people living in our communities safe without being assaulted.
“Officers are continuing to work as normal whilst a majority of people are told to stay home to keep safe and police shouldn’t have to deal with the risk of being attacked whilst they are working.
“The Force will not tolerate this behaviour under any circumstances and I want to make it clear that you will be arrested if you are caught assaulting or abusing any of our officers.”
A 45-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of two counts of assaulting an emergency worker, affray and criminal damage and he remains in custody.
This morning, the Force has published a direct message to those affected by domestic abuse with Chief Constable Richard Lewis stating that victims of domestic abuse are the Force’s priority: