Officers responding to a call of a man in crisis were attacked by the man they were trying to help early Tuesday evening.
On Tuesday around 6 p.m. two North Precinct officers were dispatched to help a mother locate her 37-year-old son who was in the midst of a mental crisis. She said that her son had left their home and was wandering the neighborhood and may be suffering from schizophrenia.
With the assistance of witnesses, officers were able to find the suspect who immediately ran off when he saw them arrive. Not long after they received calls that a man matching the suspect’s description had broken into a home in the 13900 block of 4th Ave. NE.
Officers quickly located the suspect who had now exited the home and had armed himself with a clothes hanger and keys placed in-between his fingers. The suspect advanced on a group of teenagers and one of the officers placed himself between the suspect and the teens. As the suspect approached the officer he dropped the hanger and punched the officer in the neck. The assaulted officer was able to wrestle the suspect to the ground, and with the assistance of other officers was able to get him into custody.
The assaulted officer sustained an injury to his knee and another responding officer injured their shoulder in the melee. Both officers were transported to Harborview Medical Center for treatment.
The suspect was booked into KCJ investigation of assault and investigation of burglary.