Officer injured Sunday

SIKESTON -- An officer with the Sikeston Department of Public Safety was injured Sunday night as he responded to a large gathering at the corner of Ruth and Branum streets.

At approximately 9:30 p.m. an officer responded to a disturbance call. Upon arriving he was pelted by bottles and bricks from a large gathering of about 80 people.

"There was some type of altercation in the middle of the crowd," said DPS Director Drew Juden.

The officer immediately called for back-up, however additional officers were held up by a southbound train. With backup stalled, the officer was advised to leave the area. When the supervisor and additional officers arrived a short time later they were also pelted by bottles and bricks. At that point, an all-

call was issued for DPS personnel. Approximately 60 officers responded to the disturbance and 10 arrests were made.

The first officer on scene did not seek medical attention but was injured in the altercation. "He was injured with a piece of concrete block which he took to the knee," said Juden who refused to release the officer's name.

"We are in the process of reviewing in-car video tape and other video of the area which hopefully will reveal more suspects to be arrested at a later time," said Juden. "We are also looking into other avenues to deal with large lawless crowds which in the future will result in the arrest of all participants. This type of behavior is not acceptable and will be dealt with aggressively."

Officers were at the scene until 1:30 a.m. today.