GRAN CANARIA – Six police were injured on Friday afternoon when attempting to stop a 29-year-old Equatoguinean man from throwing objects into the street. The man was in an apartment in the La Feria neighbourhood of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Police were alerted to the scene at around 5.00 pm on Friday. This is when they learned a man was throwing items from the 10th floor of the building onto Guillermo Santana Rivero Street below.
Aggressive behaviour
When the police went to the door, initially no one answered. However, a short time later a woman responded saying she was locked up and the man was aggressive towards her.
Faced with the possibility it was a case of gender violence, the police, along with three other reinforcements, intervened by breaking the door down.
Drugs
As they did, a large man armed with a 21-centimetre knife and a 35-centimeter screwdriver came at them. Due to his attitude and aggressive behaviour, it was thought he could be under the influence of drugs.
As such, they used an inverted shield to access the property. However, at this point, the man attacked them. He managed to plunge the knife into one of the officers at the top of his arm. The police officer fell, and the man then pounced on him cutting his cheekbone. The officer later required several stitches.
When the other officers attempted to stop the man attacking their colleague, another policeman suffered a broken nose. The man was punching, kicking, and biting. And as such, the officers were forced to retreat.
Police were injured
Reinforcements had to be called. This time eight officers entered the house and managed to restrain the man. However, during the intervention, they received various lacerations, dislocations, and back pain.
Finally, with more reinforcements, a total of eight officers stormed the house again and managed to reduce the man. This time, he left officers with lacerations, dislocations, or low back pain, to a total of six injured during the intervention.
In the end, and due to the possibility the man was under the influence of drugs, he was transferred to the Doctor Negrin University Hospital in Gran Canaria. Furthermore, he had to be sedated several times throughout the night.
