2011 Connecticut Code
Title 53a Penal Code
Chapter 952 Penal Code: Offenses
Sec. 53a-167c. Assault of public safety, emergency medical or public transit personnel: Class C felony.

      Sec. 53a-167c. Assault of public safety, emergency medical or public transit personnel: Class C felony. (a) A person is guilty of assault of public safety, emergency medical or public transit personnel when, with intent to prevent a reasonably identifiable peace officer, special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, motor vehicle inspector designated under section 14-8 and certified pursuant to section 7-294d, firefighter or employee of an emergency medical service organization, as defined in section 53a-3, emergency room physician or nurse, employee of the Department of Correction, member or employee of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, probation officer, employee of the Judicial Branch assigned to provide pretrial secure detention and programming services to juveniles accused of the commission of a delinquent act, employee of the Department of Children and Families assigned to provide direct services to children and youths in the care or custody of the department, employee of a municipal police department assigned to provide security at the police department's lockup and holding facility, active individual member of a volunteer canine search and rescue team, as defined in section 5-249, or public transit employee from performing his or her duties, and while such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, probation officer or active individual member is acting in the performance of his or her duties, (1) such person causes physical injury to such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, probation officer or active individual member, or (2) such person throws or hurls, or causes to be thrown or hurled, any rock, bottle, can or other article, object or missile of any kind capable of causing physical harm, damage or injury, at such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, probation officer or active individual member, or (3) such person uses or causes to be used any mace, tear gas or any like or similar deleterious agent against such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, probation officer or active individual member, or (4) such person throws or hurls, or causes to be thrown or hurled, any paint, dye or other like or similar staining, discoloring or coloring agent or any type of offensive or noxious liquid, agent or substance at such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, probation officer or active individual member, or (5) such person throws or hurls, or causes to be thrown or hurled, any bodily fluid including, but not limited to, urine, feces, blood or saliva at such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, probation officer or active individual member. For the purposes of this section, "public transit employee" means a person employed by the state, a political subdivision of the state, a transit district formed under chapter 103a or a person with whom the Commissioner of Transportation has contracted in accordance with section 13b-34 to provide transportation services who operates a vehicle or vessel providing public rail service, ferry service or fixed route bus service or performs duties directly related to the operation of such vehicle or vessel.

      (b) Assault of public safety, emergency medical or public transit personnel is a class C felony. If any person who is confined in an institution or facility of the Department of Correction is sentenced to a term of imprisonment for assault of an employee of the Department of Correction under this section, such term shall run consecutively to the term for which the person was serving at the time of the assault.

      (P.A. 73-639, S. 19; P.A. 90-157, S. 2; 90-250, S. 2; P.A. 93-246, S. 1; P.A. 94-62; P.A. 98-41; P.A. 99-26, S. 28; 99-204; P.A. 01-84, S. 13, 26; P.A. 03-6, S. 1; 03-19, S. 126; P.A. 04-234, S. 2; 04-241, S. 3; 04-257, S. 120; P.A. 05-108, S. 7; 05-180, S. 6; P.A. 06-196, S. 185; P.A. 08-150, S. 54; P.A. 09-191, S. 2; P.A. 10-36, S. 24.)

      History: P.A. 90-157 applied provisions to assaults of employees of an emergency medical service organization; P.A. 90-250 applied provisions to employees of the department of correction, specified that assault must occur while peace officer, fireman or correction department employee is acting in performance of his duties and added provision re consecutive sentences for persons sentenced for assault of correction department employees; P.A. 93-246 applied provisions to assault of an employee or member of the board of parole or probation officer; P.A. 94-62 applied the provisions to emergency room physicians and emergency room nurses; P.A. 98-41 applied provisions to an assault of an employee of the Judicial Branch assigned to provide pretrial secure detention and programming services to juveniles accused of the commission of a delinquent act or an assault of an employee of the Department of Children and Families performing duties at Long Lane School; P.A. 99-26 revised the category of employees of the Department of Children and Families to which provisions apply by replacing an employee "performing duties at Long Lane School" with an employee "assigned to provide direct services to children and youth in the care or custody of the department"; P.A. 99-204 added Subsec. (a)(5) re throwing or hurling any bodily fluid at specified personnel and changed the name of the offense to "assault of public safety or emergency medical personnel" where appearing; P.A. 01-84 replaced "fireman" with "firefighter" in Subsec. (a), effective July 1, 2001; P.A. 03-6 amended Subsec. (a) to apply provisions to assault of an employee of a municipal police department assigned to provide security at the police department's lockup and holding facility and make a technical change for the purpose of gender neutrality; P.A. 03-19 made a technical change in Subsec. (a), effective May 12, 2003; P.A. 04-234 replaced Board of Parole with Board of Pardons and Paroles, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-241 applied provisions to assaults of active individual members of volunteer canine search and rescue teams; P.A. 04-257 amended Subsec. (a) to delete reference to an employee of the Board of Parole, effective June 14, 2004; P.A. 05-108 amended Subsec. (a) to restore reference to an employee of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, effective June 7, 2005; P.A. 05-180 amended Subsec. (a) to apply provisions to assault of a special policeman appointed under Sec. 29-18b; P.A. 06-196 made a technical change in Subsec. (a), effective June 7, 2006; P.A. 08-150 amended Subsec. (a) to apply provisions to assault of Department of Motor Vehicles inspector appointed under Sec. 14-8 and certified pursuant to Sec. 7-294d; P.A. 09-191 amended Subsec. (a) to define and apply provisions to a "public transit employee", and changed name of the offense to "assault of public safety, emergency medical or public transit personnel"; P.A. 10-36 amended Subsec. (a) to replace "Department of Motor Vehicles inspector appointed" with "motor vehicle inspector designated", effective July 1, 2010.

      See Sec. 53a-59b re assault of an employee of the Department of Correction in the first degree.

      Cited. 214 C. 195. Cited. 231 C. 545. Cited. 234 C. 78. Cited. 236 C. 31. Cited. 237 C. 454; Id., 633.

      Cited. 3 CA 353. Cited. 10 CA 486. Cited. 12 CA 364. Cited. 14 CA 10. Cited. 27 CA 103. Cited. 32 CA 224. Cited. 37 CA 338. Cited. 40 CA 601. Cited. 43 CA 61; Id., 76. Cited. 46 CA 118. Under Sec. 53a-23, the illegality of an arrest is not a defense to charges under this section which was intended to require an arrestee to submit to an arrest, even though he believes, and may ultimately establish, that the arrest was without probable cause or was otherwise unlawful. It was not intended to require an arrestee to submit to egregiously unlawful conduct-such as an unprovoked assault-by the police in the course of an arrest, whether the arrest was legal or illegal. 79 CA 667. Interfering with an officer is lesser offense included in greater offense of assault of public safety personnel and thus conviction of both offenses for same act constituted double jeopardy violation. 86 CA 607.

      Cited. 33 CS 4. Cited. 39 CS 347.

      Subsec. (a):

      Subdiv. (1) cited. 201 C. 605; 205 C. 370; 228 C. 910; 233 C. 502. Judgment of appellate court in State v. Wolff, 37 CA 500, reversed in part to affirm judgment of trial court with respect to charges under this section. 237 C. 633. Trial court improperly prevented defendant from offering evidence re first element of the crime, namely, whether the officer was performing his assigned duties when defendant struck him. 255 C. 581. In order to sustain conviction under the statute, there must be a finding that police officers had been acting in the performance of their duties. 261 C. 553.

      Cited. 1 CA 709. Subdiv. (1) cited. 9 CA 169; judgment reversed, see 205 C. 370; 23 CA 160; Id., 315. Cited. Id., 447. Subdiv. (1) cited. Id.; Id., 663. Cited erroneously as Sec. 53-167c(a)(1). 28 CA 469. Subdiv. (1) cited. 30 CA 606; 31 CA 178; 33 CA 509; Id., 743; judgment reversed, see 233 C. 502; 35 CA 431; Id., 699; 37 CA 500; Id., 635. Cited. 38 CA 306. Subdiv. (1) cited. 39 CA 333; Id., 657; Id., 789; 43 CA 480; Id., 578; 44 CA 264. In determining whether an assault has been committed, defendant's act does not have to be wholly or partially successful, nor must the act defeat or delay the performance of a duty in which the officer is then engaged, but instead, defendant must only have intended to prevent the officer from performing his or her duties. 112 CA 324. Conviction of both assault of peace officer under Subdiv. (1) and interfering with officer under Sec. 53a-167a(a) constitutes double jeopardy; Subdiv. (1) is not unconstitutionally void for vagueness re defendant's conduct because it provides fair warning that a specific intent to injure officer is not an element of the offense. 119 CA 556.

      Subsec. (b):

      Legislature intended to deter all prisoners being held in Connecticut facilities, whether there temporarily or for duration of a sentence, from assaulting employees of those facilities and therefore trial court lacked discretion to impose a sentence concurrent to defendant's federal sentence. 63 CA 386.