By Melissa Hanson MassLive.com
BOSTON – As a Boston police officer was kicked in the face by a juvenile suspect inside a Roxbury community center, fellow officers trying to assist were forced to watch the altercation through a glass door because they were initially not allowed inside to help, police say.
A staffer at the community center allegedly delayed the responding officers’ entry because she was reprimanded for allowing the first officers into the building, police said in a statement released Friday.
Officers assigned to the City Wide Drug Control Unit were patrolling in Roxbury on Thursday, trying to serve a search warrant in connection with a firearm investigation involving a juvenile boy who lives in the neighborhood, police said.
The officers saw the juvenile along with another boy. One of the two looked nervous, police said, and was clutching his backpack close to his body.
Police saw the two teenaged boys duck into the Dewitt Community Center located at 122 Dewitt Drive. The officers identified themselves as police and went into the center, the statement said.
The officers were directed toward an upstairs classroom, where the two suspects were sitting, police said.
However, the boys exited the classroom and tried to run away, “pushing and physically assaulting” the officers, police said.
One of the suspects was subdued in the hallway and the other suspect ran toward a stairwell leading to the first-floor exit.
One of the officers tried to apprehend that suspect, which started a physical altercation that caused the both of them to tumble down the stairs, police said.
The suspect repeatedly kicked the officer in the face and upper body, police said.
“As the altercation spilled into the main lobby of the building, responding officers, forced to watch the altercation through the community center’s glass doors, were unable to gain entry and provide support to the struggling officer because a front desk staffer refused to let them in,” the statement read.
Eventually, the responding officers were allowed inside.
Officers asked the front desk staffer why they were not being allowed into the building. The staffer explained that she was reprimanded by a supervisor for allowing officers inside building in the first place, the statement said.
“Dismayed and disillusioned by the explanation, officers promptly explained to the staffer that a search warrant isn’t a suggestion or topic for discussion, but rather a court order that gives police officers the authority and authorization to conduct a search of a person regardless of location,” the statement read.
A search of the backpack carried by one of the suspects revealed a Chiappa .22-caliber revolver.
The two officers were taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.
Police arrested the two boys. Names of juveniles are not released.
A 16-year-old Boston boy is being charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, carrying a firearm on a public way, assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest.
A 15-year-old Boston boy is being charged with assault and battery on a police officer and interfering with police officers.
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