Corsicana, Tx. – Things got out of hand this weekend when officers were met with violence at the hands of a crowd while attempting to apprehend a Texas man, police report.

Police Chief Randy Bratton said a man who fought with police managed to escape for a short time early Sunday when officers trying to arrest him were attacked by members of a crowd watching the incident.

Bratton said officers were called shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday to assist with crowd control for an EMS unit at the scene.

“When they got there, the roadway was blocked and they couldn’t get the paramedics through. There were a couple hundred people having a party in the middle of the road,” Bratton explained.

Officers were attempting to clean the roadway when a man driving a pickup truck through the crowd approached two officers.

“He almost ran over three or four people, driving recklessly,” Bratton said.

Bratton said the 22-year-old subject became combative with officers when asked to get out of his vehicle and began assaulting them. That’s when members of the crowd at the scene got involved, Bratton said, hitting and kicking the two officers.

According to Bratton, the subject was able to break free and run from the two officers, but was apprehended after a brief chase and subdued by use of a Taser.

Bratton said officers called for backup after the crowd gathered around them. Officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Navarro County Sheriff’s Office and the Navarro County Police Department responded to the call, and the crowd began to disperse, Bratton said.

The subject was taken to an area hospital for treatment of what Bratton called a “serious facial injury,” and was released by doctors there to seek additional treatment.

Because of the extent of the man’s injuries, they were not able to book him into jail. According to Bratton, local police will have to pursue charges of assault on a public servant, evading arrest and resisting arrest at a later date.

Belcher writes for the Corsicana (Texas) Daily Sun.