Days after a man was pistol-whipped by what appeared to be a gun outside his home in Plymouth, Massachusetts, two teenagers were arrested, police said — one accused of fighting with the officers as he tried to flee at Plymouth South High School.
A school resource officer was elbowed in the face during the scuffle Wednesday as he and another Plymouth police officer arrested a 17-year-old accomplice in the attack Monday, according to the department.
In that attack, a 19-year-old, identified as Brodric Mason, is accused of hitting a man in the face and head with the weapon, a pepper ball gun that looks similar to a gun that shoots bullets, outside a home in the village of Manomet. Police said that Mason, the 17-year-old and a 12-year-old boy went to the house to assault a young man who was inside, and that the man — identified by family as homeowner Jason Hammerlee, whose daughter was also inside — met them outside.
Wearing a ski mask, Mason allegedly pulled out the weapon and said, "What you gonna do?" Hammerlee feared for his life and grabbed the weapon, trying to wrestle it from Mason's hands but was assaulted, according to police.
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"This assault left the victim with significant injury including permanent disfigurement and will require reconstructive surgery," Plymouth police said in a statement.
Mason, who lives in Plymouth, was eventually arrested. He appeared in court Thursday to face charges of assault to murder, mayhem, and assault and battery with serious bodily injury.
Mason's grandmother, Olive Norman, listened to the charges against him in the courtroom.
"We don't know happened … We never know what happened, because I didn't know what had happened till he went to jail last night," Norman said. "I ain't never known him to do nothing like that."
Investigators went to Plymouth South High School Wednesday to question the 17-year-old, who is believed to have been driving the car, police said. The teen, who wasn't identified beyond being from Scituate, allegedly tried to flee when probable cause for his arrest was determined, but was taken into custody after the fight with the two arresting officers.
He is due to face charges of assault and battery, resisting arrest, mayhem and accessory in juvenile court.
Police said they know who the 12-year-old, from Plymouth, is and that charges could be brought against him.
Hammerlee's family is calling for justice.
"I think they deserve time in jail," daughter Hannah Hammerlee said.
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The school resource officer, Plymouth South Middle School Resource Officer Travis Eliason, was back at school Thursday.
Police didn't say what sent the three youths to the home in Manomet on Monday.
