PROVIDENCE –– A man whom the police call “Tiger” allegedly attacked the Providence police officer who was guarding him at Rhode Island Hospital and briefly escaped from the emergency room yesterday.

Willie Franklin, 46, had been arrested Monday for possessing crack cocaine, some of which he’d apparently ingested, said Maj. Paul Fitzgerald. After he told an officer at the police station’s cell block that he’d “swallowed an eight-ball of crack cocaine,” Franklin was taken to the emergency room to be evaluated, according to a police report.

The 6-foot-4-inch Pawtucket man, known to the police in the region for a criminal record going back more than 25 years, was being guarded by Officer Richard Ramirez at Room 759 at the hospital when Franklin suddenly lashed out, according to the police. Franklin punched Ramirez in the face, breaking the officer’s nose and giving him two black eyes, and took off, Fitzgerald said.

Franklin got in the elevator with the officer on his heels, and knocked Ramirez down again, according to a police report. Franklin made it outside, but was caught by hospital security, Fitzgerald said.

Along with facing a felony charge of cocaine possession, Franklin is now charged with assault on a police officer and escape from custody.