Merritt F. Benson, Jr., of New Cassel, charged with injuring 4 Nassau police officers
A 24-year-old New Cassel man faces an array of charges, including for assaulting four police officers, after becoming “violent and combative” with police responding to a domestic disturbance Monday.
During the arrest, Nassau police used a Taser to subdue Merritt F. Benson Jr., after he “resisted and refused to comply with” verbal commands, police said.
Four police officers were injured as they attempted to place Benson into custody. The four officers all were transported to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, police said.
Benson was transported to a hospital for “evaluation.” Police said a female victim did not require hospitalization.
Police said the incident took place at a home on Roman Avenue at about 11:15 a.m.
Police said Benson had been involved in “a verbal argument” with a 30-year-old woman at the home, which escalated when Benson damaged the victim’s bedroom door and began “hitting the floor multiple times with a baseball bat.”
Benson was charged with four counts of felony assault, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, menacing and criminal mischief.
Police said he faces arraignment when “medically practical.”
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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