Anderson police officers doused with bleach during standby call
ANDERSON, Ind. (WISH) — Anderson police said they arrested several people after two officers were doused with bleach during a standby call.
It happened Sunday evening at a home on Columbus Avenue near 27th Street in Anderson.
Police said the two officers have since been treated for their injuries.
At this time it’s still unclear whether two or three people were arrested. Police said it all started when a woman requested officers come with her to retrieve her belongings from another woman’s home.
“They were there for standby, which is pretty common. People that get disputes they call the police so we can referee the events, if anything arises while the police are there they can take care of it,” said chief Tony Watters, Anderson Police Department.
It was outside of the home where the police chief said things quickly escalated for two officers.
“Every day you hope and pray that they return safely to their homes and families,” he said.
The chief said the officers were on a standby call when all parties involved started arguing.
“They were throwing around some obscenities, name calling, yelling, it got really pretty bad pretty quickly,” he said. “The officers actually had to get in the middle of them to separate them physically and while doing so the officers were doused with bleach.”
The chief said someone threw bleach, hitting the officers in the face and damaging their uniforms.
“It’s very scary though,” he said. “You get a chemical like that in your face or in your eye can be devastating.”
The chief said he’s just glad the officers are OK and said it could have been much worse.
“Both of them are doing very well, they’re veteran officers handled the situation accordingly,” he said. “They were safe. Everyone there received medical treatment that was hit with the bleach. They were not the only ones hit with the bleach.”
Sharon Blount is the woman who lives at the home. She told 24 Hour News 8 she was also hit with the bleach.
“The girl threw the bleach and it got in my face and everything, it got on the police,” said Blount.
Blount claims she did not throw the bleach. She said someone else did. Blount also showed 24 Hour News 8 some of her damaged clothes as evidence.
“I started screaming and yelling saying, oh my God, bleach is in my eye, bleach is in my eye,” she said. “They started trying to grab me and I’m moving around and they’re saying I’m resisting arrest.”
According to online jail records, Anderson police arrested Blount for disorderly conduct and resisting law enforcement. Online jail records also show her boyfriend was arrested for resisting law enforcement.
“Now I am scared in my own house because people coming to my house harassing me, people texting my landlord saying that we started all of this stuff,” she said. “People over there talking and don’t even know what’s going on talking about me and him were fighting and it wasn’t nothing like that.”
As for the officers, the police chief said they are back at work as of Monday. The officers’ names have not been released at this time.