Washington officers injured in altercation

Two Washington Police Officers were injured while making an arrest last weekend. Washington Police Chief Greg Goodman said the officers were treated for their injuries in the emergency room at Washington County Hospital and Clinics and were released. He said they are back with the force and are performing their normal duties. He did not disclose the identity of the officers.

Goodman said the officers responded to a complaint in the 100 block of North Second Avenue at about 7:30 p.m. Jan. 1. He said the officers were called to the residence because a subject, Arturo Coronel, 42, of Washington, refused to leave the house. He said the officers and Coronel were involved in a ?tussle.?

?They were getting the individual in custody,? he said. ?I don?t believe fists were thrown. It was more of a violent struggle.?

He said the officers used a Taser to subdue Coronel. They used a ?drive stun? which consists of touching the Taser to the person?s body rather than applying the electrical shock through two darts that are shot from the Taser. Goodman said the officers applied the drive stun to Coronel twice. He said the drive stun is used in place of the darts when an officer is close to the subject.

Coronel was placed under arrest and charged with interference with official acts and public intoxication. Goodman said that since the officers were injured, the charge of interference with official acts will be an aggravated misdemeanor.

?Officers are not injured all that often,? Goodman said. ?Most people are aware that the charges for assaulting or resisting an officer are serious. [Coronel] is looking at serious additional charges.?

Apart from the incident in the 100 block of North Second Avenue, Goodman said the police also responded that night to an individual who attempted to kick out a car window. He said New Year?s is not usually a time of high crime in Washington.

?Normally, the first of the year is pretty quiet,? he said. ?We don?t have too much activity, and when we do it?s not a good thing.?