NIAGARA FALLS – A woman grabbing at a police detective’s gun caused it to fire, grazing the thigh of another woman who was nearby Tuesday night, police said.
Brittany Blenker, 23, of Main Street, who is accused of grabbing the firearm, faces charges of first-degree assault, obstructing governmental administration and endangering the welfare of a child – an infant, in a house, who was not injured.
At the same scene, police arrested a man wanted in two felony assault cases, including a stabbing in front of Big Lots in the Town of Lockport on Sunday.
Jason T. Clark, 39, of New York Street, Lockport, who was wanted on assault charges in Lockport, is accused of beating a man with a baseball bat on Juniper Street on Feb. 7.
He is also a suspect in a stabbing in the Big Lots parking lot Sunday afternoon. He was arraigned Wednesday morning in the City of Lockport on second-degree assault charges and was arraigned on the stabbing charge in the Town of Lockport on Wednesday afternoon.
The case began with an unrelated drug investigation at about 8:25 p.m. Tuesday at 27th and Niagara streets in Niagara Falls, which was conducted by the Niagara County Sheriff’s Drug Task Force and the Niagara Falls Police Narcotics Intelligence Division.
During the investigation, police learned that Clark was at that location, but when they tried to arrest him on the assault warrants, he led them on a short chase into a house on Orleans Avenue.
After a brief standoff, he was taken into custody on the porch of the residence, said Police Superintendent E. Bryan DalPorto.
DalPorto said Clark agreed to come outside and obeyed the officers without incident. All the officers had their guns drawn because it was a felony arrest.
As Clark was being handcuffed by the police officer, a detective stepped in between Clark and the officer cuffing him. Police said Blenker charged at the officers and grabbed the detective’s gun.
“She grabbed at the gun, and it went off, striking another woman in the thigh,” DalPorto said. “The injuries were very minor. When I got there she was standing there talking to me.”
DalPorto said they talked with the woman who was grazed by the bullet into going by ambulance to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, but when she arrived there, she refused treatment.
The woman’s infant was also taken to the hospital with the mother to be checked but was not injured, he said.
In accordance with standard practice and Niagara Falls police regulations, the department’s Office of Professional Standards and Criminal Investigation Division are investigating the matter.
email: nfischer@buffnews.com
Brittany Blenker, 23, of Main Street, who is accused of grabbing the firearm, faces charges of first-degree assault, obstructing governmental administration and endangering the welfare of a child – an infant, in a house, who was not injured.
At the same scene, police arrested a man wanted in two felony assault cases, including a stabbing in front of Big Lots in the Town of Lockport on Sunday.
Jason T. Clark, 39, of New York Street, Lockport, who was wanted on assault charges in Lockport, is accused of beating a man with a baseball bat on Juniper Street on Feb. 7.
He is also a suspect in a stabbing in the Big Lots parking lot Sunday afternoon. He was arraigned Wednesday morning in the City of Lockport on second-degree assault charges and was arraigned on the stabbing charge in the Town of Lockport on Wednesday afternoon.
The case began with an unrelated drug investigation at about 8:25 p.m. Tuesday at 27th and Niagara streets in Niagara Falls, which was conducted by the Niagara County Sheriff’s Drug Task Force and the Niagara Falls Police Narcotics Intelligence Division.
During the investigation, police learned that Clark was at that location, but when they tried to arrest him on the assault warrants, he led them on a short chase into a house on Orleans Avenue.
After a brief standoff, he was taken into custody on the porch of the residence, said Police Superintendent E. Bryan DalPorto.
DalPorto said Clark agreed to come outside and obeyed the officers without incident. All the officers had their guns drawn because it was a felony arrest.
As Clark was being handcuffed by the police officer, a detective stepped in between Clark and the officer cuffing him. Police said Blenker charged at the officers and grabbed the detective’s gun.
“She grabbed at the gun, and it went off, striking another woman in the thigh,” DalPorto said. “The injuries were very minor. When I got there she was standing there talking to me.”
DalPorto said they talked with the woman who was grazed by the bullet into going by ambulance to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, but when she arrived there, she refused treatment.
The woman’s infant was also taken to the hospital with the mother to be checked but was not injured, he said.
In accordance with standard practice and Niagara Falls police regulations, the department’s Office of Professional Standards and Criminal Investigation Division are investigating the matter.
email: nfischer@buffnews.com