Cops: Massapequa teen arrested for hitting officer

A Massapequa teen -- already on the lam for violating a restraining order his own mom had against him -- punched and grabbed a cop who tried to thwart another man's beer theft from a supermarket, Nassau police said Saturday.

The attack happened in Seaford, as the police officer was trying to arrest the unidentified other man, 20, for stealing two cans of beer from Pathmark about 1:21 Saturday morning in the parking lot at 4055 Merrick Rd., police said. That's when Bryce Hartman, 17, started repeatedly punching the officer in the face, causing head and neck pain, authorities said.

The officer pepper sprayed Hartman, who then fled to Tackapausha Preserve, where the teen was arrested 10 minutes later, police said.

Hartman was charged with felony assault, resisting arrest and obstructing government administration, both misdemeanors, police said.

Police said the unidentified 20-year-old was also arrested. He and Hartman are "acquaintances," police said.

In addition Hartman, of Baltimore Avenue, was charged with criminal contempt for breaking his mother's restraining order on July 4, police said. A police spokesman said he could not immediately say how Hartman had violated the order.

The officer who had been punched and grabbed was released after being treated at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow for head and neck pain, police said.

Hartman, who could not be immediately reached for comment, is to be arraigned Saturday at First District Court in Hempstead.

By MATTHEW CHAYES
Posted Saturday, July 26, 2008

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