Rochester police dealt with a tense crowd situation while making an arrest on Champlain Street, during which an officer was punched in the back of the head.
Police say police tried to arrest a man who had a warrant against him. Officers who chased the man to Jefferson Avenue thought they might have been shot at, triggering a major police response. It’s not certain yet if shots were actually fired. The suspect turned out to have a loaded gun but it had not been fired.
A crowd of 50 or more people gathered around the officers making the arrest, and one person punched an officer in the back of the head. He was taken to the hospital to be checked out but is expected to be fine.
The man who threw the punch, 25-year-old Lawrence Rogers Jr of Fairport, was charged with assault and resisting arrest. Kamel Davis, 24, of Rochester was arrested for criminal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest and the original gang-related assault warrant.