A Portsmouth man will spend a year in jail for assaulting a medical emergency officer in Charles City.
Derek Tracy Croom, 61, of the 2200 block of Queen Street, entered the plea to one count of assault and battery on an emergency worker as part of a plea agreement reached Friday morning in Charles City Circuit Court. Two additional charges of assault and battery on a law enforcement officer were dropped as part of the deal.
In a summary of evidence provided by Charles City Commonwealth’s Attorney Tyler Klink, on June 9, 2024, a Charles City deputy was operating radar when they noticed a driver on a moped driving erratically. The driver, later identified as Croom, knocked on the officer’s window and indicated that they were being chased. The officer secured Croom in the back of their patrol vehicle when the defendant became irate. Other officers arrived on scene and Croom was removed from the vehicle on the condition that he behaved. Croom became unruly and officers took him to the back of an ambulance for a medical evaluation. Inside the back of the ambulance, he headbutted an emergency worker, leading to the charge and subsequent conviction…