Teen sought for assaulting police officer with snowball

Des Moines Police are seeking a 17-year-old girl for possibly assaulting a police officer after she reportedly threw snowballs at a uniformed officer and other passersby Monday.

The officer reported the incident Wednesday, noting in a police report that the girl threw a chunk of ice about the size of a baseball at him while he was directing traffic for a construction site at about 3:50 p.m. Monday in the 1400 block of Ingersoll Avenue.

According to the police report, the officer saw two teenagers running around throwing snowballs at each other in a nearby parking lot while he was directing traffic. The officer was busy working, so he lost track of the teenagers until he heard something hit near his feet.

The officer turned around and saw the boy and girl standing near the bus stop grinning, and there was a chunk of ice about the size of a baseball near his feet, according to the report. The officer had taken a step forward at the time the ice was thrown, but if he had not, it likely would have hit him in the middle of his back or the back of his head, he wrote in the report.

The officer started to approach the teens to talk with them, but they got on the bus, according to the report.

A witness approached the officer and said he or she saw the girl throw the snowball at the officer and saw the teens throw snowballs at a bus and at an elderly couple's car window, according to the report.

On Tuesday, the officer was directing traffic at the same site and saw the teens again. He approached the girl and got her name, which is not listed in the police report, from her student ID.

He did not have time to arrest her Tuesday, but he requested an arrest warrant Wednesday, according to the report, which lists a possible criminal charge of assault on a police officer.