Officer hurt in struggle with driver

A Hempstead man fought with police looking into why he'd parked illegally in the village, injuring an officer, police said Saturday.

The man, Randy Sommerville, 31, of 400 Fulton Ave., was on Truro Avenue in a 1997 Ford Explorer when an officer saw he had illegally parked, Nassau police said in a news release.

The officer stopped to ask for Sommerville's license, "which he could not produce," police said in the release, then told him to step out of the vehicle.

Sommerville "became agitated when further police assistance arrived," then fled, police said.

Police chased him and he violently struggled with them, the release said. He wasn't hurt, police said, but a village officer sustained a fractured hand and ankle.

Sommerville was to be arraigned Sunday on charges of assault, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.

A police spokesman did not immediately know Sommerville's exact parking violation.