HADLEY — A patient on board an Amherst Fire Department ambulance traveling on Route 9 allegedly became combative and assaulted a police officer by spitting on him early Saturday morning, according to Hadley Police.
Lt. Mitchell Kuc said police officers were notified by dispatch at 3:21 a.m. that a patient, who was under the influence of drugs, was out of control on the ambulance stopped in the area of Home Depot.
Two Hadley officers tried to subdue the patient with the assistance of paramedics, but while securing the patient to a stretcher with handcuffs, the patient spit at one of the officers, hitting him in the face, Kuc said.
“After the patient was secured, the officer escorted the ambulance to Cooley Dickinson Hospital to ensure the safety of the paramedics,” Kuc said.
That officer also sought medical treatment at the hospital for the exposure to the patient’s saliva, Kuc said.
Amherst Fire Chief Walter “Tim” Nelson said the patient was under the influence of LSD and was being transported from a medical call.
An 18-year-old Easthampton man is being summoned to court on a charge of assault and battery on a police officer as a result of the incident, Kuc said.
Unlike the previous weekend, when a patient on an ambulance assaulted three paramedics and a Hadley officer, no paramedics were attacked or injured in the incident, Nelson said.
Nelson said the paramedic who missed time after the incident has returned to work.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
