A Phoenix police officer is "almost unrecognizable" after he was violently beaten while responding to a domestic violence call Sunday, according to the police union.
In a statement released Tuesday, the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association said information released by the police department "doesn’t begin to convey the brutality of the attack" on the officer, who required surgery following the assault. The incident happened at about 9:30 p.m. when the officer was flagged down by a woman needing help.
The woman explained that the father of her children had assaulted her. While they were talking, the officer and woman were approached by the 24-year-old man—identified as Rudy Gomez—accused of assaulting the victim. According to police, the man appeared highly agitated when he encountered the two.
According to court documents, Gomez asked the officer to arrest him before he began the assault, KPHO-TV reports. He later told investigators that he snapped and his "rage just came out."
"When our officer attempted to take Gomez into custody, the suspect punched our officer in the face, rendering him unconscious," the police union's stated. "Gomez continued his attack, brutally punching the officer in the face an estimated dozen times and then stomping on the officer’s face. The attacker fled but was soon apprehended by responding officers."
The assaulted officer was taken to the hospital, and his injuries were considered serious but not life-threatening, according to police. But the union says that description downplays the severity of the officer's injuries.
"The officer’s injuries are horrific; two broken eye orbital bones, lacerations on the head and above the eye, and a broken nose," the union stated. "He was almost unrecognizable only minutes after the assault. It’s nothing short of miraculous that he survived."
Gomez was charged on seven counts, including two counts of felony aggravated assault on a police officer. His bond was set at $60,000, a low amount that the union said added "insult to injury."
