(a) A person is guilty of assault of public safety, emergency medical, public transit or health care personnel when, with intent to prevent a reasonably identifiable peace officer, firefighter or employee of an emergency medical service organization, as defined in § 53a-3, emergency room physician or nurse, health care employee as defined in § 19a-490q, employee of the Department of Correction, member or employee of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, probation officer, employee of the Judicial Branch assigned to provide pretrial secure detention and programming services to juveniles accused of the commission of a delinquent act, liquor control agent, state or municipal animal control officer, security officer, employee of the Department of Children and Families assigned to provide direct services to children and youths in the care or custody of the department, employee of a municipal police department assigned to provide security at the police department’s lockup and holding facility, active individual member of a volunteer canine search and rescue team, as defined in § 5-249, or public transit employee from performing his or her duties, and while such peace officer, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, health care employee, member, liquor control agent, animal control officer, security officer, probation officer or active individual member is acting in the performance of his or her duties, (1) such person causes physical injury to such peace officer, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, liquor control agent, animal control officer, security officer, probation officer or active individual member, or (2) such person throws or hurls, or causes to be thrown or hurled, any rock, bottle, can or other article, object or missile of any kind capable of causing physical harm, damage or injury, at such peace officer, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, liquor control agent, animal control officer, security officer, probation officer or active individual member, or (3) such person uses or causes to be used any mace, tear gas or any like or similar deleterious agent against such peace officer, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, liquor control agent, animal control officer, security officer, probation officer or active individual member, or (4) such person throws or hurls, or causes to be thrown or hurled, any paint, dye or other like or similar staining, discoloring or coloring agent or any type of offensive or noxious liquid, agent or substance at such peace officer, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, liquor control agent, animal control officer, security officer, probation officer or active individual member, or (5) such person throws or hurls, or causes to be thrown or hurled, any bodily fluid including, but not limited to, urine, feces, blood or saliva at such peace officer, firefighter, employee, physician, nurse, member, liquor control agent, animal control officer, security officer, probation officer or active individual member. For the purposes of this section, “public transit employee” means a person employed by the state, a political subdivision of the state, a transit district formed under chapter 103a or a person with whom the Commissioner of Transportation has contracted in accordance with § 13b-34 to provide transportation services who operates a vehicle or vessel providing public ferry service or fixed route bus service or performs duties directly related to the operation of such vehicle or vessel, or who, as part of the provision of public rail service, is a train operator, conductor, inspector, signal person or station agent and “security officer” has the same meaning as provided in § 29-152u.

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(b) Assault of public safety, emergency medical, public transit or health care personnel is a class C felony. If any person who is confined in an institution or facility of the Department of Correction is sentenced to a term of imprisonment for assault of an employee of the Department of Correction under this section, such term shall run consecutively to the term for which the person was serving at the time of the assault.

(c) In any prosecution under this section involving assault of a health care employee, as defined in § 19a-490q, it shall be an affirmative defense that the defendant is a person with a disability as described in subdivision (13), (15) or (20) of § 46a-51 and the defendant’s conduct was a clear and direct manifestation of the disability, except that for the purposes of this subsection, “mental disability”, as defined in subdivision (20) of § 46a-51, does not include any abnormality manifested only by repeated criminal or antisocial conduct.