UPDATE: The officer has been identified as William Preuss
Canastota, N.Y. - A Canastota police officer is in the hospital after being violently attacked.
Yesterday afternoon around 2, an officer responded to a call about a suspicious person in the Liberty Resources parking lot on North Main Street. The officer found 25 year old Richard Branch of Canastota acting strangely and when approached Branch, punched the officer in the head and face multiple times, according to police.
The officer called for backup and an Onondaga County Sheriff used a stun gun on Branch to subdue him.
Branch faces several charges, no word on the identity or condition of the officer.