Video: Three cops hurt in fight with half-naked man in Winterswijk
Three police officers were injured in a fight with a man who wore shorts only in Winterswijk on Wednesday afternoon, local newspaper De Gelderlander reported. The 43-year old man who was arrested will have his mental health checked for showing what was described as "disturbed" behavior during the incident.
Two of the three officers were treated in a hospital for their injuries. The third one was examined by a doctor, but required no further treatment. They mainly suffered facial swelling as a result of multiple blows received during the fight.
The man got into a fistfight with several officers at the roundabout connecting Rondweg-Zuid and Wooldseweg around 2:30 p.m. It took about twenty minutes before police officers were able to overpower the man who was not responsive to their commands.
"He did not react to the pepper spray and the truncheons we used also did not help. We suspect that he behaved this way as a result of substance abuse, combined with his mental condition," police said.
Footage of the incident was widely shared on social media. The video shows a man walking barefoot wearing only shorts. He attacked the officers repeatedly, also with an object that he grabbed from the ground. He kicked and punched the police officers, eventually knocking one of them over.
The police were alerted just before 2:30 p.m. about the man who allegedly attempted to open car doors at Rondweg-Zuid. He is also said to have hit the vehicles and jumped in front of a truck, narrowly escaping being hit. "When colleagues arrived there, the man was immediately very aggressive towards them and he immediately started fighting.”
The struggling officers were reinforced by a second team and with four men they finally managed to arrest the man around 2:50 p.m. The man was detained and has also received medical care due to his worrying condition.
The police asked all witnesses of the incident to come forward and provide a witness statement.
