A Boston Police officer working a paid detail in Dorchester Center got pepper sprayed in the face while attempting to stop one of two fights in the middle of the road, the police department reported.

The officer was working a detail in the area of Washington Street and Talbot Avenue Friday morning when, at around 11:15 a.m., two women began fighting in the middle of the road, according to a Boston Police Department statement. The officer tried to separate the two women when another fight broke out, causing a distraction that one of the two fighting women allegedly used to pepper spray the officer in the face. The sprayer then tried to make her getaway in a car.

By this time, other police arrived as backup and were able to stop the car and put the suspect into handcuffs, but the BPD reports that it wasn’t easy — she resisted and another person in the car also interfered on her behalf. They told the second woman to stop interfering or she would be arrested but, alas, she began “to assault multiple officers, and a struggle ensued,” according to the police statement.

Eventually, both women were placed under arrest and are due for arraignment in municipal court in Dorchester.

Skyla Malave, 18, of Dorchester, was charged with assault and battery on a police officer, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and resisting arrest. Priscilla Malave, 40, of Dorchester, was charged with assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest.