Merced officer injured by robbery suspect while serving arrest warrant

Police say a robbery suspect headbutted an officer and both were injured Friday in a violent encounter while authorities were serving an arrest warrant at a Merced home.

Police served an arrest warrant at a home on the 1600 block of East 21st Street Friday evening, Sgt. Ray Alvarez said.

Officers found the suspect they were looking for in the home, Alvarez said, noting that at one point the suspect was hiding in a bedroom.

The suspect then started fighting an officer.

The officer and suspect, whose identities weren’t released Friday evening, each received injuries and were taken to a local hospital for treatment, Alvarez said.

Merced Capt. Matt Williams said the suspect headbutted the officer, who received an injury near his eye.

“Both of their injuries aren’t serious, nothing life-threatening,” Williams said.

Williams said the suspect was identified by police Friday as someone believed to be involved with one or more recent robberies.

Officers were talking with two individuals at the residence and taped off the scene at about 6:30 p.m., redirecting traffic on East 21st Street.

The encounter remained under investigation Friday evening.

This story was originally published August 18, 2017 at 9:12 PM with the headline "Merced officer injured by robbery suspect while serving arrest warrant."