Two Essex Police officers strangled and attacked in Colchester
They were responding to an assault
Two Essex Police Officers have been attacked after responding to an assault in Colchester.
It was reported that two men were assaulting a third man in North Station Road on Saturday evening (February 17), around 10:30pm.
The first officer on the scene was chasing two suspects who were running from the scene. When he ran to catch up with them, he was assaulted and strangled.
Police believe the officer also then lost consciousness.
A second officer - an Essex Police Special - arrived and was also assaulted, then strangled from behind, after running to catch up with the suspects.
When more officers got to the scene, two men, ages 37 and 17, were arrested.
They're being questioned on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and intentional strangulation.
Both police officers have now been discharged from hospital after receiving treatment, and have been given the option of taking time to recover.
Victim is yet to come forward
As Essex Police continue their enquiries, as well as into the initial assault that officers were responding to, they're appealing for witnesses, information and footage.
The force say a victim is yet to come forward from the assault in North Station Road.
They also believe people were driving and walking past during the assault, so are appealing for witnesses.
"There were two very worried families"
Detective Chief Inspector Rob Huddleston said:
“Policing is rightly scrutinised by the public, given the responsibility the role requires but very often what the public do not see is selfless, brave officers literally running towards danger to do their job.
“They do that all-through the day, late at night and in the early hours of the morning so the rest of us don’t have to. Their families expect to them to come home safely from their shift and last night, there were two very worried families.
“Thankfully, ours is a family force. We look after each other and we support each other. One of the officers involved in this incident is an Essex Police Special. Whilst he is trained to the same level as a regular officer, he is not paid for his work; he volunteers his time and we are lucky to have him and his many Special colleagues across the force.”