Police officer assaulted during e-scooter incident

A WESTBURY police officer was assaulted and his wrist was broken last week following an incident with someone on an e-scooter.

The Westbury Neighbourhood Police team located a local youth on an e-scooter in the High Street on Tuesday 19th March, with the intention of reminding him of the laws surrounding e-scooters and to seize possession of the e-scooter.

The youth, however, resisted this, resulting in what the police have described as a “scuffle” between the two, which resulted in the officer’s wrist being broken.

The police have praised the volunteers of the Warminster and Westbury CCTV partnership who were monitoring the situation through the cameras and called for assistance.

A statement from the Westbury Police reads, “As the officer was on his own and clearly injured, CCTV operators from Warminster and Westbury CCTV, who were monitoring the live feed, were able to call for assistance on his behalf and get further police units to his location.

“Despite the pain from the injury, the officer was determined to carry out his job and managed to detain and handcuff the youth and await the arrival of colleagues from our response team who had responded to the assistance shout from CCTV.

“The injury to the officer has since been confirmed as a broken wrist. The youth was arrested for assault on an emergency worker and has been bailed pending investigation.

“Warminster and Westbury CCTV play a vital role in helping Wiltshire Police detect and prevent crime within both towns. They give our team a huge amount of support, and the public should be reassured that they are looking out for us all.”

E-scooters are classed as motor vehicles under the Road Traffic Act 1988 which means that the rules that apply to motor vehicles, also apply to e-scooters – including the need to have a licence, insurance and tax.