Once bitten, twice shy might might be an adage police on the South Shore could take to heart.
Accused for the second time of biting a police officer, 23-year old Lucas Cory Greek of Conquerall Mills will spend the weekend in custody.
A judge recently threw out an assault charge against Greek, laid after he was accused of biting a Mountie last year.
In that case, the judge ruled that Greek’s arrest was unlawful because police didn't have a warrant to enter his family home and that Greek was acting in self defence when he bit the Mountie.
"Local members, including the Bridgewater police officers — they were aware of that decision, which involved him biting an RCMP officer in the past," Sgt. Mark MacPherson of the Lunenburg District RCMP said Friday.
"But we we still have to effect the arrest."
An officer with the Bridgewater Police Service was at a men's shelter on Empire Street when he spotted Greek on Wednesday at about 1 p.m.
"He actually called for assistance and it was one of the two responding officers that were coming to back him up that got bitten," MacPherson said.
Police knew Greek was wanted for a domestic disturbance that occurred earlier this fall in Liverpool. There was a provincewide warrant out for him in that case on charges that included assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, forcible confinement and uttering threats.
Greek's arrest Wednesday "turned into a physical altercation very quickly," he said.
"Police work — things can happen in a split second — and that's what occurred in this case."
Greek was not wearing handcuffs when he allegedly bit the officer, MacPherson said. Three Bridgewater cops in uniform, one in plainclothes and two plainclothes Mounties were in on the arrest.
"They were under the process of trying to get him under control when that happened this most recent time," MacPherson said.
"They were trying to place him in handcuffs and that's when the bite took place."
There's not much police can do to avoid bites, he said.
"We always go into these and try to manage them and hope that the person we're arresting is co-operative," MacPherson said. "But when it turns into a physical altercation where the person begins physically resisting arrest, until we get them under control, these things can happen."
It wasn't a situation where police could have used pepper spray or a Taser, said MacPherson, who compared the arrest to a "wrestling match."
The Bridgewater officer was not badly hurt, though the bite did break the skin around his hand and wrist, he said.
"But of course he was required to go to the hospital. He was there for several hours."
The officer was tested for communicable diseases, he said. "They do the usual procedure when someone is bitten or comes in contact with blood."
The bite wound did not require stitches, said MacPherson, who noted a second officer was also "bruised up a bit" during the arrest.
Since a cop was injured during Greek’s arrest on Wednesday, he is facing additional charges, including obstruction and assaulting a police officer.
Police won't need Greek's dental records to prove their case, MacPherson said.
"It was an observed act, so no need for that," he said.
Greek is slated to return to Bridgewater provincial court on Monday.
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