HAVERHILL — A police officer was sucker punched in the face and knocked to the ground yesterday morning by a man the officer was trying to arrest, police said.
They said the man also kicked a second officer several times before he was arrested and charged with assaulting the officers, as well as assaulting his pregnant girlfriend — the original call that caused police to get involved. Police said the struggle happened on busy Winter Street in front of Dunkin' Donuts, where traffic stopped in both directions as people watched.
Police Capt. Michael Wrenn said Patrolman Eric MacKinnon suffered a laceration on his forehead and was treated at Merrimack Valley Hospital and then released. Wrenn said the wound required several stitches.
Police Lt. Anthony Haugh also was treated for minor injuries to a knee and other parts of his body when the man kicked him several times during the struggle.
Wrenn said MacKinnon, a two-year member of the force, was called to 93 Bellevue Ave. at 8 a.m. yesterday by a pregnant woman who said she had just been attacked by her boyfriend, William Shelley, 34, of the same address.
When he arrived, MacKinnon was told Shelley had just left. On his way back to the police station, MacKinnon noticed a man walking along Winter Street that matched the description given to him by the woman.
Wrenn said MacKinnon got out of his cruiser, confronted Shelley — who then sucker punched him, knocking him to the ground. Haugh, who was stationed a block away at a work site, saw what was happening and went to MacKinnon's aid. Wrenn said Shelley then turned on Haugh, kicking him several times before the two officers were able to subdue him and place him under arrest.
"Officer MacKinnon gets out of his car, confronts the man, and the man immediately becomes violent," Wrenn said. "Traffic stopped in both directions while this is taking place. The guy put on quite a show."
Shelley, who Wrenn said is well known to police in Haverhill, was arraigned in Haverhill District Court on two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a shod foot (a felony), disorderly conduct and assault and battery on his pregnant girlfriend, which also is felony, according to police. Wrenn said that if convicted of just the assault and battery on a pregnant woman charge, Shelley could be punished by up to two and a half years in jail.
Shelley was ordered held without bail at the Middleton House of Correction until a hearing next Wednesday, where it will be determined whether he is a danger to society or not.
Wrenn said it was fortunate that Haugh was able to come to the aid of MacKinnon.
Domestic disturbances of the kind MacKinnon responded to are frequent in Haverhill, Wrenn said, with officers responding to as many as 10 such calls each day.
"I'd say without a doubt that it is one of the higher risk calls we go to," Wrenn said. "You never know who you're dealing with out there on the street. That's the sad reality of it."
