Worcester Police Officer Attacked, Man Tries to “Gouge Out His Eye”

Thursday, August 04, 2016

GoLocalWorcester News Team

On Wednesday morning a Worcester police officer in full uniform was working a private construction detail on Country Club Blvd near Lincoln Street.

The officer tried to direct and driver and a verbal and then physical conflict began. As the officer tried to arrest Jones Appiah, 30-years-old who lived in the area, Worcester police say the officer was attacked by Appiah.

During the attack the Worcester Police officer pepper sprayed Appiah to try and subdue him, but during the fight he tried to gouge out the police officer’s eye in an attempt to get break free.

According to the police report issued late Wednesday:

At this location there was large construction equipment that was being operated on the road. In addition to the large equipment there was numerous orange traffic cones set up to divert traffic away from the work area. The Country Club BLVD entrance to Aldi Supermarket was coned off with entrance to the lot accessed from Lincoln Street which was just approximately 100 yards away.

At this time the officer directing traffic noticed a 2014 Mazda being operated by a male later identified as Jones Appiah, 30-years-old of 1 Country Club BLVD. Mr. Appiah attempted to drive into the work zone by ignoring the cones set up and attempted to enter the supermarket parking lot. The officer approached the vehicle and informed the driver that he could gain access to the lot by just driving down the road and enter from Lincoln Street. This immediately angered Mr. Appiah. Mr. Appiah yelled at the officer and then made a U-turn on Country Club BLVD. The vehicle drove off quickly on the wrong side of the road. This portion of Country Club BLVD is divided by a median strip. Mr. Appiah was now driving on the wrong side of the road until he was out of the officer’s line of sight. The officer did yell out commands to stop and also signaled him to stop but he ignored the officer each time and continued to drive off at a speed that was unreasonable.

A few minutes later the officer observed the same vehicle being operated by Mr. Appiah return to Country Club BLVD by turning right from Lincoln Street. The vehicle then drove through the construction site and entered the supermarket parking lot which was coned off for thru traffic. Upon seeing this action the officer once again approached the vehicle. Mr. Appiah exited his vehicle as the officer approached. Mr. Appiah began to walk away. The officer asked him to stop. The officer stated that he needed to see his license and registration. Mr. Appiah yelled obscenities at the officer and refused to produce his license and registration. The officer asked several times and each time Mr. Appiah ignored the request and answered loudly with obscenities. At this time the officer informed Mr. Appiah that he was now under arrest for failure to produce a license and registration and for failure to stop for a police officer.

Upon hearing that he was to be arrested Mr. Appiah began to run from the scene. At this time a security guard exited the store that he was working for and check on the commotion that was taking place. At this time the officer radioed for assistance. Mr. Appiah ran towards the security guard and pushed the guard out of his way with both hands to the guards chest. The officer was now running after Mr. Appiah. As the officer closed in Mr. Appiah stopped and turned towards the officer. The officer realized that he was about to be assaulted and quickly deployed his pepper spray. At this time Mr. Appiah wiped off his face and threatened bodily harm to the officer. The pepper spray appeared to have little to no effect on Mr. Appiah.

Mr. Appiah circled around the officer and then charged at him. Mr. Appiah tackled the officer to the ground of the parking lot. Once on the ground the officer was able to deploy a second burst of pepper spray in the face of Mr. Appiah. This again had no effect. The security guard ran to the officers’ aid. Mr. Appiah was violently resisting by punching the officer while trying to get away. During the violent struggle the officer could feel Mr. Appiah digging his fingernails into his face and purposely scratching him. At this time Mr. Appiah took one of his fingers and purposely pressed, with great force, into one of the officers’ eye. The officer believed that Mr. Appiah was actually attempting to gouge out his eye. At this time the officer was able to push Mr. Appiah off him. The violent struggle continued but eventually the officer was able to gain control of Mr. Appiah. He was subsequently placed in handcuffs. At this time several officers arrived at the scene.

Worcester EMS responded to the scene and treated Mr. Appiah for his exposure to the pepper spray. After treatment he was transported to police headquarters for booking procedures.

The officer was also treated at the scene and then transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. The officer was treated for the eye injury along with facial cuts and scratches and numerous other scrapes and abrasions that he received during the struggle. The officer was released later on in the day. The officer suffered several broken blood vessels to the eye but is expected to make a full recovery.

Mr. Appiah was charged with Assault and Battery on a Police Officer, Resisting Arrest, Assault and Battery, Mayhem, Intimidation of a Witness, Threatening to Commit a Crime (bodily harm), Failure to Stop for a Police Officer, Refusal to Produce a License and Registration, and Operating a MV to Endanger.

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Worcester Police Officer Attacked, Man Tries to “Gouge Out His Eye”

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