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WILKES-BARRE — A city police officer was injured while investigating a domestic dispute on Scott Street early Monday morning.
Police responded to 805 Scott St. just after 12 a.m. when a door was slammed on the arm of officer Erika Oswald, who suffered injuries to her hand, court records say.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police encountered Sterling Griffiths Jr., 30, and his boyfriend, Christopher Martindale.
Martindale was sitting on a bed crying waiting to be picked up.
Griffiths told police he had an argument with Martindale and wanted him to leave.
Police said Griffiths and Martindale continued to argue when an officer instructed Martindale to go onto the front porch.
Griffiths followed Martindale and was told by Oswald to go back into the house. When Griffiths refused, Oswald re-entered the house and told Griffiths’ father to get his son off the front porch.
Griffiths became enraged and pushed passed Oswald in the doorway. Griffiths slammed the door injuring Oswald’s hand when she raised her arm to deflect the force of the door from her body and head, the complaint says.
Griffiths was charged with simple assault and harassment. He was arraigned by District Judge Joseph Spagnuolo Jr. in Plains Township and jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $2,500 bail.