A city medic is temporarily off the job after being bitten, kicked and spit on by a 17-year-old girl with reported mental issues, while police officials and the president of the Detroit firefighters union dispute whether there was a proper police response to the incident.
Police on Tuesday were called about a woman causing a disturbance in the 16000 block of Washburn on Detroit's west side. Officers from the 12th Precinct arrived about 1:30 a.m., Detroit Police Cmdr. DeShawne Sims and Lt. Joseph Tucker said Friday at a press conference at Detroit Public Safety Headquarters.
When officers arrived, they found a distraught 17-year-old girl on the roof of her home, Sims said. Sims and Tucker said several times during Friday's press conference that a Facebook post by one of the medics about the incident isn't true. "At no time were the EMTs at the scene alone," Tucker said.
Mike Nevin, president of the Detroit Fire Fighters Association union, said the police response wasn't enough. He added that nobody claimed the medics were at the scene alone.