Joliet man charged with kicking police officer

A man was charged with kicking a Joliet police officer who was responding to a crash.

Jose Santana-Arias, 40, of Joliet was taken to the Will County jail on a charge of aggravated battery to an officer. The incident that led to his arrest was not related to the crash, said Joliet police Sgt. Dwayne English.

About 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, officers responded to the crash at the intersection of North Hickory and Lime streets.

While officers searched for the people involved in a crash, Santana-Arias yelled and indicated multiple times to the officers that he had guns on him and in a vehicle.

Officers detained Santana-Arias and patted him down for weapons based on his statements.

Santana-Arias had appeared intoxicated to the officers and he was placed in a squad vehicle while officers continued to investigate the situation.

Santana-Arias became belligerent with officers and hit his head against the barrier of the vehicle.

An officer opened the vehicle door and Santana-Arias tried to head butt that officer, but missed, which led to him falling out of the vehicle and then onto the ground.

Santana-Arias then kicked the officer multiple times before officers were able to secure for an arrest.

An ambulance arrived on scene but Santana-Arias refused to be taken to the hospital.