Man charged with assaulting detention officer

A Havre man is facing a felony charge based on accusations he of grabbed, pushed and slapped a Hill County Detention Center officer.

Samuel Wells, 60, is charged with felony assault on a peace officer and disorderly conduct. He was in jail on a trespassing charge when he allegedly assaulted the jail officer.

Court charging documents say the officer received a call from the dispatcher Aug. 12 about a disturbance in one of the jail dorms. Two officers responded.

When the officers arrived Wells was cursing and throwing around his personal items. The officers initially asked Wells what happened and learned from other inmates that Wells was taking items from them.

One of the officers said that, while she was in front of the exit door, Wells pushed her as he tried to get by her, documents say. The officer blocked the door and Wells shoved, pushed and pulled against the officer, causing her pain and putting her in fear of Wells, documents say.

The officer freed her arms and pushed Wells back. Documents say Wells got an arm free and slapped the officer in the face. An inmate intervened  and pushed Wells against a wall. The officer told the intervening inmate to stand down, and by this time, documents says, Wells had calmed down.

The officer handcuffed Wells and moved him to another pod. Wells said he would not hit the officer again and apologized for doing so, documents say.