Boston prosecutors said a man was charged Friday with severely biting a police officer’s hand and punching two other officers during a violent outburst at city hall.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said Michael Williams, 51, was taken into custody on charges of assault to maim, assaulting a police officer and other offenses after he was wrestled to the ground by authorities.
Prosecutors said police originally confronted Mr. Williams around 9:45 a.m. Friday because he was accused of shouting racial slurs at a group of people visiting Boston City Hall.
Mr. Williams allowed himself to be escorted out of the building at first, but prosecutors said he started arguing with police before he left the premises. He then told officers that he preferred to be arrested.
The DA’s office said when one of the officer’s moved in to handcuff Mr. Williams, the suspect bit down hard into the cop’s hand and caused “heavy bleeding and parts of the skin and tissue to hang off the hand.”
The suspect then punched two officers and ran off. Prosecutors said he was chased down quickly by police.
“This incident could have been avoided if the defendant had followed officers’ instructions and left the building,” District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a release. “Instead, he escalated it into an extremely violent encounter in which he inflicted a serious injury before he could be subdued.”
Mr. Williams was ordered held on a $25,000 bond. He also has to undergo a mental health evaluation at a hospital.
The suspect’s next court date is scheduled for April 24.