Vermont Family Charged with Attacking Officers at Amusement Park

The six family members were each carrying knives clipped to their belts when they arrived at the park just after 1 p.m. When park security workers told them they weren’t allowed to carry their weapons into the park, several of the family members became “extremely belligerent,” prompting the two officers to respond to the scene, officials said.

Five members of a Vermont family are facing charges that they attacked two police officers for not allowing them to carry knives into a popular amusement park in New Hampshire Monday afternoon, officials said.

A Salem, N.H., police officer sustained a serious shoulder injury in the attack at Canobie Lake Park, and was treated and released from Parkland Medical Center. A second officer also sustained bruises and cuts, police said today in a statement.

The six family members were each carrying knives clipped to their belts when they arrived at the park just after 1 p.m. When park security workers told them they weren’t allowed to carry their weapons into the park, several of the family members became “extremely belligerent,” prompting the two officers to respond to the scene, officials said.

When the officer attempted to handcuff one family member he became “extremely combative.”

The other family members allegedly joined in, jumping on the two officers’ backs, punching and kicking them and reaching for their weapons, police told the Boston Globe.

Additional officers were dispatched to the area and helped pull the family off the officers.

As the family members were arrested, the mother, who was not involved in the attack, allegedly began to fake a seizure. She was treated and released by paramedics at the scene, police said. 

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