June 12--A Nassau County police officer suffered minor injuries when a man being questioned as the result of a disturbance call Monday evening in Merrick assaulted him, police said.
Police did not release the identity of the officer, but said he was assigned to the Seventh Precinct. The officer was treated at a hospital for injuries to his knee, forearm and hand, police said. No one else was injured in the incident.
Police said the incident occurred when officers responded to a 911 call reporting a disturbance on Blanche Lane just after 6 p.m. The officer was attempting to question a resident, identified as Kenneth Wat, 53, of 2084 Blanche Lane, when police said the man "began flailing his arms and hands in the officer's face, refusing to be questioned."
Wat then grabbed the officer's wrist, police said, and shoved him backward. The officer attempted to arrest Wat, police said, but the man became "more combative," causing injuries to the officer.
Wat was arrested and charged with second-degree assault, resisting arrest and second-degree obstructing government administration, police said. He faces arraignment Tuesday in First District Court in Hempstead.
The reason for the original disturbance call was not immediately clear on Tuesday. It also was not immediately clear what led officers to question Wat.
Copyright 2012 - Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
