Crime & Safety
Screwdriver-Wielding Man Bites Boston Police Officer’s Head
Police were called to help Fallon ambulance transport a man into an ambulance after he was ordered by the court to go to the hospital.
BOSTON, MA — A Hyde Park man is facing multiple charges after he allegedly attacked Boston Police officers with a screwdriver, kicked them in the chest and bit a chunk of out of one police officer’s head.
Just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday, someone called police to help Fallon Ambulance on Central Ave. A court order requiring a 22-year-old man be transported to the hospital for a mental evaluation, but the man refused and became combative with officers.
That's when police say the man, whose identity was not released, began swinging his fists at officers.
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“A violent struggle ensued during which the male attempted to punch, kick, and bite the four officers while they attempted to handcuff him,” Boston Police said in a statement. “The officers were struck multiple times on their heads and upper bodies.”
During the struggle, the man pulled out an 8-inch screwdriver from his pocket and tried to stab three officers and an EMT. Though officers wrestled the screwdriver away from the man, he bit one of the officers in the head, turned onto his back and kicked an officer in the chest before pulling a second screwdriver from his pocket.
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Eventually, police were able to handcuff the man and put him in the ambulance, where he was taken to Mass General Hospital.
Police said they expected the injured officer to miss work while he recovered.
“I am extremely upset by this incident and the fact that some of my officers were seriously injured as a result of it,” Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said in a statement. “But I believe they used a great deal of restraint in their use of force, and I commend their actions and bravery.”
The man will be charged with mayhem, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and three counts of assault and battery on a police officer.
“It goes to show that attempting to handcuff someone who does not want to be handcuffed is not always a pretty process; and sometimes it does take multiple officers and a great deal of force, even when the subject appears to be unarmed and average build, as this male was,” Evans said.
File Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch
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