ARVADA, Colo. – An officer with the Arvada Police Department was taken to the hospital after the officer and a citizen were attacked with an unidentified chemical substance early Saturday morning.
The unsuspecting officer was blasted with the chemical explosion while removing debris from the roadway in the area of West 68th Avenue and Beech Street around 12:30 a.m., according to a release from the Arvada Police Department.
Detective David Snelling, a department spokesperson, told Denver7 that a man threw a plastic container containing the chemical toward the officer and the civilian, landing close to the officer and creating a “big cloud of gas.”
Snelling said the officer “immediately felt the effects and went down.”
Paramedics transported the officer, who has not been identified, to the hospital where the officer was treated and released. The civilian was treated at the scene for minor injuries.
The officer was dispatched to the scene of the attack on a report of a traffic sign that had fallen into the middle of the roadway. Authorities are investigating whether the attacker had intentionally knocked the sign into the road in order to lure police into an ambush. The incident occurred near Ralston Valley Park after curfew hours, the release read.
Meanwhile, authorities are working to determine the exact makeup of the chemical reaction that created the cloud of gas.
A spokesperson for the department said Sunday that multiple people were arrested in connection with the attack. No other information was released.
