Domestic Violence Calls Keep Salem Police Jumping

Police work can come in rushes like any other profession or industry. The added challenge was met with success tonight.

Salem-News.com

(SALEM) - Two domestic violence calls, reports of missing children and a car chase kept Salem Police officers moving at a good place Thursday night, and sirens could be heard wailing throughout the city as officers moved from one location to the other.

Salem Police Lt. John Hoffmeister says the first domestic violence report involved a man and woman fighting in the street near the old State Farm building in the 400 block of State St. Just after 9:30 PM, reports came in through 911 indicating that the woman had jumped on the car at one point, and then the man reportedly tried to run her over.

Officers arriving at the scene say they tried to stop the driver, but instead he fled the scene with patrol cars in hot pursuit. The chase led onto Hawthorne Road before coming to a close, Hoffmeister said. Officers then returned to the victim's location to access her condition and take reports.

Then at 9:55 PM, a call came in about 6-8 family members fighting in the street in the 2600 block of Broadway NE. Hoffmeister says officers just wrapping up the first call had to move across town quickly to respond to the second.

Units arriving on scene were advised that the people involved in the fight had a number of weapons in their home, but none were used according to Hoffmeister. He says the 6-8 family members initially involved had backed off and only two members were fighting when police arrived.

Two adult males were contacted by police, one 40-year old and one 21-year old. Police officers calmed the various people involved and had cleared the scene by 10:20 PM.

In an unrelated matter, Hoffmeister said there were two children reported missing in Salem Thursday. The first occurred when a 4-year old became separated from his parents while walking on the field at dusk at Houck Middle School. Officers arrived quicklly and located the missing boy safely.

No sooner had officers cleared that call Hoffmeister said, that a second missing child call was reported at Grant Elementary. This child ended up being located at a relative's house and was also returned to his family safely.

In the retail world, one person coming through the door often leads to a rush of other customers. Apparently, police work has a tendency at least some of the time to work the same way.