Disturbing

From Stuff:

The teenager charged with seriously assaulting a female police officer in West Auckland last night is also recovering in hospital this morning.

The 18-year-old is in the same hospital as the officer, but it is not known how he got hurt.

There's an obvious explanation for this, but its also a very disturbing one. While the police are allowed to use reasonable and necessary force in arresting a suspect, normal arrests, even of violent offenders, do not usually result in hospitalisation. If there's any suggestion that the officers involved used excessive force to extrajudicially and unlawfully punish this man for assaulting their colleague, they should all be immediately sacked. The police are supposed to defend us from thuggery, not engage in it.

Update: The police has fronted up and explained; the suspect was apparently bitten by a police dog.