A 17-year-old allegedly punched a state trooper in the face in Norwell, Massachusetts, and then ran off into the woods after she pulled him and his mother over, according to state police.
The trooper had to be hospitalized for injuries to her face.
She was on patrol late Friday night on Route 3 southbound in Norwell, when she noticed a Dodge Durango that drove close to her police cruiser from behind, then pulled out in front of her, state police said in a news release. The trooper looked into the car, and learned that a 17-year-old boy was associated with it and had three active warrants — including one for a probation violation because he did not charge an ankle bracelet he was ordered to wear for a prior case, troopers said.
The teen had a violent history toward police, troopers added.
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The state trooper pulled over the SUV near a dealership in Norwell on Pond Street, and she saw a passenger — later confirmed to be the 17-year-old — climb into the backseat, troopers said, who identified the SUV's driver as the teen's mother.
While she was escorting the teen out of the backseat, he allegedly punched the trooper in the face, pushed her, shouted at her and then ran across the road and into the woods, troopers said. Teams began searching for the suspect, but could not track him down.
“A trooper, on patrol by herself in the dead of night, approached a suspect with a criminal history who was known to be violent toward police,” Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police Colonel John Mawn Jr., said in a news release. “She did so because she took an oath to defend society from violence, crime, and disorder. She did so because she possesses the courage, at the risk of her own safety, to confront those that harm society and have a reckless disregard for the laws enacted to protect people."
The suspect turned himself in to the Cohasset Police Department on Sunday morning, and is expected to be arraigned in Hingham District Court on two new charges — with assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest — in addition to answering to the prior warrants. His name is not being released because he is considered a juvenile under Massachusetts law.
The trooper has been released from the hospital after being treated for the injuries to her face.
