Police: Hickory officer attacked, suffers broken leg after responding to stabbing

HICKORY, N.C. — A Catawba County teenager is in jail, charged with stabbing his mother. The situation ended with the teen's father allegedly attacking a police officer and breaking the officer's leg.

Richard Johnson is charged with both assault of a law enforcement officer inflicting serious injury and resisting a police officer.

Police said they responded to Johnson's home in Hickory for a stabbing involving his wife and a juvenile on Monday.

Family members told Channel 9's Dave Faherty the couple's teenage son would not go to school and got into an argument with his mother before stabbing her in the leg.

They said she called her husband, who rushed home and that is when the altercation with police happened.

"He came in after he got a call from his wife that she had been stabbed," Hewitt Drum said. "And then he come and run in there to see her, and two policemen tackled him. And one of them broke his leg tackling him."

Police said they have body camera video of the alleged assault of the officer.

“After reviewing body cam videos, these statements by family are inaccurate. The body cam video will be used as evidence during pending litigation," Maj. Reed Baer, with the Hickory Police Department, said in a statement.

According to the arrest warrant, Johnson assaulted officer Robert Helton by shoving him in an attempt to flee arrest.

The wife was taken to Baptist Hospital for treatment, and she is expected to be OK. The son appeared before a juvenile court judge Tuesday morning.

Authorities said the officer who broke his leg has been released from the hospital.

Cox Media Group