Officer Attacked When Confronted by Crowd

Sept. 4, 2015
When the Madison police officer went to arrest a woman, he was surrounded by a crowd saying things including, "We need to start killing these officers."

A Madison, Wis. police officer was attacked after being confronted by a crowd that was voicing anti-police sentiments Wednesday night.

The officer stopped in the area of Prairie Road and Jacobs Way around 6:20 p.m. after spotting a large number of people in the street, according to WISC-TV.

As the officer approached, he observed a woman punch a man in the face, and he could see that the woman had a can of pepper spray.

When he went to arrest the woman, he was surrounded by a crowd saying things including, "We need to start killing these officers."

The woman’s daughter was grabbing the officer while trying to free her mother and while the officer tried to diffuse the situation by explaining to the crowd that the woman had just punched someone, he was being ignored.

The woman with the pepper spray then punched the officer in the face and grabbed him by the throat, according to police officials.

The officer said he saw people in the crowd recording the incident on their cellphones while someone in the crowd accused him of using excessive force.

One witness told police he or she "felt the officer was in trouble" and that it appeared someone had gone for his gun.

The two women, identified as Latonya B. James and Nanyamka N. James, were arrested by responding officers.

"He demonstrated fantastic patience and restraint in dealing with these folks," Capt. Vic Wahl said. "He was able to literally get assaulted in the midst of a large crowd and still take these women into custody without causing any injuries to anyone."

Latonya B. James, 40, was arrested on suspicion of battery to a law enforcement officer, possession of pepper spray, disorderly conduct and resisting. Nanyamka N. James was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct, resisting and on a parole hold.

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