Boy selling water on street punches officer, fractures his eye socket, Georgia cops say

An officer was hospitalized with a fractured eye socket after a boy selling water on the street punched him in the face, according to Georgia police.

The officer approached the boy, who was walking between cars on a highway exit ramp trying to sell water bottles on July 23, according to a report from the Atlanta Police Department.

The boy, whose age was redacted in the report, fled from the officer toward a train station.

When the officer caught up with him, the boy emptied a Gatorade bottle onto him, soaking his uniform, the report says. The officer tried to detain the child, and the boy punched him .”in the right eye twice with a closed fist.” The boy resisted as the officer put him in handcuffs, and the officer struck him at least twice.

The officer’s eye was pooling with blood and “completely swollen shut,“ the report says.

Paramedics brought the officer to a hospital with “severe damage to his right eye,” including a fractured eye socket and suspected nerve damage, the report says. He also had abrasions on his arms and hands.

The boy faces a series of charges, including aggravated assault, aggravated battery, terrorist threats and pedestrian soliciting business, according to police. He was referred to juvenile court.

This story was originally published July 28, 2022 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Boy selling water on street punches officer, fractures his eye socket, Georgia cops say."