PHA officer injured in 75-person North Philly street brawl

A Philadelphia Housing Authority officer was injured during a large melee on a North Philadelphia street Tuesday evening.

Around 6:20 p.m., police arrived at the corner of 25thand Diamond streets after receiving calls of a brawl mainly involving women, Philly.com reported.

“There was at least 75 people on the street acting disorderly. There were many fights, and most of the individuals in the crowd were females,” Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said to NBC10.

Twenty PHA and Philadelphia police officers arrived to stop the fighting, which resulted in one PHA officer, 25, falling to his knees, blinded from pepper spray, Fox29 reported. He was treated at Temple University Hospital and later released.

“He was sprayed with pepper spray — went in both of his eyes. He was unable to see initially,” Small was quoted by Fox29.

The cause of the large fight remained unclear as investigators reviewed surveillance video, NBC10 reported. One woman was taken into custody, but Chief Inspector Small said it was unrelated to the injured officer.