Man with rock injures Coatesville officer, cracks cruiser window
A police officer was injured after a man armed with a rock attacked another officer Monday afternoon in Chester County, police said.
A police officer was injured after a man armed with a rock attacked another officer Monday afternoon in Chester County, police said.
Officer Jared Davis was on patrol about 1:50 p.m. when Eric L. Watson, 29, allegedly stepped into the street in front of the Coatesville Area Public Library and threw a large rock at his patrol car, shattering part of the windshield
As Davis attempted to exit his vehicle near the library at North Fifth Avenue and East Lincoln Highway, Watson tried to hit him in the head with the same rock, police said. Davis tried to arrest Watson and a struggle ensued.
Watson, of the 800 block of East Chestnut Street in Coatesville, was wrestled to the ground by Davis and other officers and was taken into custody.
Dashcam video posted to the Coatesville Police Department's Facebook page shows a man wearing a backpack appearing to wait for the approaching police vehicle and then winding up for a hard throw at the windshield.
Davis is seen pulling over near the corner, and appears to be armed with a Taser as he gets out of his patrol car. He steps back, then seeming to react to something offscreen, he lunges forward offscreen. That's when the 44-second video clip ends.
Watson was charged with aggravated assault on police, institutional vandalism, resisting arrest, and related offenses.
The injured officer, who was not identified, was taken to Paoli Hospital to be treated for a broken sternum.
Coatesville police did not elaborate on a possible motive for the attack.
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