Officers injured after brawl in Madrid

SIX PEOPLE have been arrested in Madrid following a brawl between police officers and residents which left 14 officers injured. The arrested, from the Dominican Republic, were detained in Madrid’s Tetuán neighbourhood.  

The violence began after one off-duty officer had finished eating with four other colleagues nearby and, on returning to his car, saw a man leaning against it with several drinks spread out on the hood. The police officer asked him to get off his vehicle but, without saying a word, the man then “smashed a glass and bottle on the officer’s head,” according to Alfredo Perdiguero, a spokesman for the Independent Labor Union of the Spanish Police (SIPE).

The injured officer called for help from his colleagues and five other officers came to his assistance. At that moment, “numerous residents started to come out with bats and clubs,” said Perdiguero, and proceeded to attack the five officers, who had to call for backup.

Within a few minutes police cars had arrived on the scene whilst one police officer managed to hold down an assailant who was repeatedly punching his captor. Another attacker also punched and kicked police while trying to avoid arrest.

One woman threw a tricycle in one of the police officer’s faces, causing him serious injury, according to Police sources. 

CSIT Professional Union spoke of the incident following the closure of the Madrid anti–riot unit: “In circumstances such as these, we see that it is necessary to have a specialised unit like the Central Security Units (UCS) as they are already prepared to protect us from these kinds of situations.”