On Oct. 19 at 11:45 p.m., officers were in the area of 5th Street South at South Courthouse Road investigating an unrelated incident when an individual approached and attempted to intervene, Arlington police said.
As the officers were walking back to their cruiser, the suspect challenged one of them to a fight and ran up behind him, police said. As the second officer attempted to move the suspect away from the first, the suspect struck the second officer in the head, police said.
The suspect – 50-year-old Timothy Betts of Stafford – was arrested and charged with assault-and-battery on police, obstruction of justice and public intoxication. He was held without bond.
The officer received injuries described as minor.