Bedfordshire Police refers itself to watchdog after man in 80s arrested
- Published
A man in his 80s was arrested on suspicion of assault, police said
A police force has referred itself to a watchdog after a man in his 80s was arrested following a clash that left a police officer with a cut to her face.
Police initially went to the wrong address after being called to Potton, Bedfordshire at 05:00 BST on Friday.
The force said officers were approached by a man holding a "wooden implement" and an "altercation ensued" in which the officer was injured.
The arrested man has been released under investigation.
In a series of tweets, the force said the uniformed officers were walking away from the property when the incident happened.
They called for back up and "several other units arrived".
"Before further units arrived, an altercation ensued where one of our officers tried to take the wooden implement from the resident, during which [the officer] sustained a cut to her face.
"A man in his 80s was arrested on suspicion of assault on an emergency worker," the force said on Twitter.
The man was taken into custody and has been released under investigation.
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Det Ch Supt Julie Henderson, from Bedfordshire Police, said: "We understand the concerns regarding this incident and are carrying out our own internal review.
"We have also voluntarily referred ourselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, external for full openness and transparency and to ascertain if there is any learning to be taken forward.
"Over the coming days the welfare of all those involved will be our primary concern."
The force later tweeted to clarify what was meant by the term "wooden implement", saying: "This was not a walking stick: we are describing it as something similar in size and shape to a rounders bat.
"It isn't a rounders bat, but is a wooden stick of that sort of size and shape."
It said officers had initially parked outside the wrong address and approached it but did not enter.
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