UMass student charged with assaulting paramedics, police officer

AMHERST — A University of Massachusetts Amherst student is facing multiple charges after allegedly assaulting three Amherst paramedics and a Hadley police officer on Saturday night.

At around 7 p.m., paramedics responded to a call at 46 Hobart Lane that an intoxicated male had hit his head.

While being transported to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, the student, whose identity has not been released, unstrapped himself from the stretcher and punched a paramedic in the back of the head, said Amherst Fire Chief Tim Nelson.

The medic who had been driving the ambulance made a radio call for help. A nearby ambulance and the Hadley Police Department responded.

The student proceeded to hit the first paramedic “more than a couple times,” and kicked a second paramedic and a police officer, according to Nelson. A third paramedic came away with “a bunch of scrapes,” Nelson said.

Following the struggle, the student was taken to the hospital and arrested on charges of assault and battery on a police officer and three counts of assault and battery on ambulance personnel. The three paramedics were also evaluated, and one has been placed on medical leave due to a possible concussion.

“We’re out there trying to help people, trying to take care of people, and this student decides that he’s going to try to take out one of my personnel, I’m not going to stand for that at all,” Nelson said. “That’s absolutely unacceptable.”

Nelson has also spoken with the dean of UMass Amherst and expressed his desire for the student to be penalized under both criminal charges and the UMass Amherst code of conduct.

“An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us, and that will not stand,” Nelson said. “That is absolutely not okay. And we’re going to do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again. And if that means making an example of this student, so be it.”