Police: Man hits IMPD officer in neck with sock filled with broken glass
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A man found himself behind bars after police say he hit an Indianapolis police officer in the neck with a glass-filled sock because he was “taking too long” to fill out a report.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were dispatched to the 600 block of North Illinois Street near the Scottish Rite Cathedral around 6 a.m. Monday after receiving a complaint from a homeless man of a suspicious vehicle.
Officers arrived and were met by Jonathan Rhinehart, 37, who told police that the suspicious vehicle circled the area several times and was continually harassing him.
While speaking with officers, court documents say Rhinehart told police that the vehicle’s driver was “angered because he had taken a photo of the man’s spouse/wife’s car.” He added that the driver tried to assault him and also broke his purse strap.
An officer started to write down Rhinehart’s information for a police report, and asked Rhinehart to move his shopping cart with his belongings because it was blocking a garage entrance to a business.
Rhinehart then struck the officer in the neck with a sock filled with broken bottle glass, causing the officer to feel “immediate burning and pain.”
Another officer at the scene grabbed Rhinehart and took him to the ground, eventually placing him in handcuffs. Additional officers arrived at the scene. Rhinehart was quoted in court documents stating “very loudly” that the officer “was taking too long to complete the report.”
Medical services had to be called to remove glass pieces from the officer’s neck. Rhinehart was also treated at the scene for a cut to his knee he sustained when he was pulled to the ground.
Rhinehart was booked into the Marion County jail on preliminary charges of battery on a public safety official and disorderly conduct.
