PSNI officers assaulted by man arrested for driving offences

TWO police officers were assaulted in Strabane yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon as they arrested a man suspected of a number of driving offences.

The PSNI have said that, during the course of the arrest, one officer was headbutted while the other was struck on the face.

At around 4.30pm yesterday, police say they received a report that a white Skoda Octavia crashed into a parked car, which shunted into two pedestrians, one of whom was holding a child.

It was reported they sustained minor injuries, at the time, and were treated by the NIAS who responded to the incident along with police.

The driver of the car was reported to have left the scene following the incident, however, police enquiries resulted in the arrest of a 35-year-old man on suspicion of a number of offences, including driving when unfit through drink or drug, no insurance and no driving licence.

During the course of arrest, two police officers were assaulted – one officer was headbutted and the other officer was struck on the face.

The suspect was further arrested for two counts of assault on police.

Sergeant Johnston said, “Thankfully, both of our officers were able to continue on duty, however, assaults on police are completely unacceptable and should never be tolerated or seen as ‘part of the job’.

“We are continuing with enquiries into this incident, which could have had extremely serious consequences for members of the public.

“The man arrested remains in custody and I’m appealing to anyone who was in the area and witnessed what occurred to get in touch with us. I would also ask anyone who captured what occurred on their dash cam to call us.”

The number with information is 101, quoting reference number 1286 of 05/07/22. Alternatively, you can submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/.

You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/.