Cop gets hit from behind
A POLICE officer was coward- punched in a brawl at a Townsville hotel that led to six people being arrested.
Police were called to the Hotel Allen about 11.30pm on Friday in response to a bar fight.
It is understood the incident started when a verbal dispute escalated and a patron punched another before several other people got involved.
Townsville Police Rapid Action Patrol Group Sergeant John McHugh said the manager of the hotel asked those involved to stop fighting but then he was assaulted.
“The manager has asked them to stop and then he got punched in the face,” Sgt McHugh said.
“Police arrived and attempted to stop the incident but then an officer was punched in the jaw.”
The violence then erupted with first- response officers calling for urgent help, prompting a “code 1” response; a very urgent matter with risk of death.
Several police cars sped through the wet and windy conditions under lights and sirens.
The large police response was able to quickly defuse the situation and seven people were arrested and taken to the Townsville Watchhouse.
Townsville Police District Duty Officer Senior Sergeant Scot Warrwick said it was an ugly incident, with the attack on the police officer particularly deplorable.
“He was punched with a closed fist from behind in a particularly cowardly attack,” Sgt Warrwick said.
“He suffered a significant amount of pain.”
A 17- year- old man was charged with serious assault causing bodily harm to police, common assault and public nuisance.
An 18- year- old man and 17- year- old male were charged with public nuisance and were issued notices to appear in Townsville Magistrates Court on March 9 and February 28 respectively.
A 45- year- old woman will face court on March 12 after being issued a notice to appear on obstructing police charges.
Meanwhile. three men aged 18, 19 and 20 were all issued infringement notices for public nuisance.
About three hours after this incident police were called to reports of a street brawl outside the Commercial Hotel in Ayr. Two men were arrested.