March 17, 2023 A Fresno police officer was struck at least two times with a rock when police confronted a man who had been challenging customers outside a gas station to a fight and then walked onto a freeway.
By Anthony Galaviz Source The Fresno Bee Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A Fresno police officer was injured Thursday afternoon when a man allegedly struck him with a rock.
Officers responded at 4:46 p.m. to the Sinclair gas station on West Belmont Avenue just east of Highway 99 following reports of a man who was outside challenging customers to a fight, Fresno Police Lt. Israel Reyes said.
Officers noticed a man carrying a large rock or boulder walking around the parking lot. The man was confronted by officers and charged at one of the patrol vehicles and attempted to throw a rock, police said.
Reyes said officers backed up, and the man walked westbound on Belmont towards Highway 99.
The man ignored officers’ commands to put the rock down and proceeded to walk down the ramp to southbound Highway 99 from Belmont. The man went on the freeway as the California Highway Patrol stopped traffic, police said.
Officers followed the man and caught up with him in between lanes on the highway.
Officers approached him before he struck one of the officers at least two times in the upper body and an arm, Reyes said.
The man was taken down and arrested. The man wasn’t injured, but the officer was taken to a local hospital for his injuries and is expected to be OK, police said.