Officer assaulted while responding to domestic burglary call in Chester

Chester police officer is hospitalized after being attacked while on the job. Authorities say he was responding to a domestic disturbance this morning when the suspect turned his attention to the officer. Action News reporter Amanda Pitts is live at Chester Police with an update on that officer. Amanda. Yes, Sarah, the DA says this was an unprovoked attack on that police officer who we now know is officer Michael Tierney. He was injured in the back of his head, rushed to the hospital, This is the moment a man was taken into custody after authorities say he assaulted a Chester police officer this morning. It was a really scary incident and it could have been a whole lot worse. It happened around 10 30 on the 900 block of Meadow Lane. The Delaware County District Attorney says officer Michael Tierney responded here for a domestic burglary call after the suspect Lawrence Cruz had kicked in the door to his girlfriend's home. Officer Michael Tierney approached the suspect and was completely senselessly attacked. He pounced with closed fists and started punching off his face as officer Tierney pulled out the taser to try to subdue him. There was a struggle that taser got loose. Bruce says the suspect then grabbed that taser and whipped officer Tierney in the head. He's got lacerations in the head. It looks like he was assaulted. Chopper six capturing evidence markers scattered on the street and what appears to be a piece of clothing covered in blood. And I've never seen nothing like this before until today. The officer was rushed to the hospital with cuts to his head, but thankfully is expected to be okay. It seems as though they're indicated may have been some mental health issues going on. This clearly was not someone that was in their right mind. The suspect's mother telling Action News that her son had recently been released from the hospital. He was taken back there today, but will be charged with aggravated assault on a police officer and burglary. We could have avoided this. We don't have the facilities. We don't have the wherewithal. We seemingly don't have the will to get to someone with mental health issues before it escalates to this point. And we're told that the suspect was arrested three other times since 2015 for similar crimes, including an attack on an officer. Live in Chester, Amanda Pitts, Channel 6 Action News. Sarah. Amanda, thank you.