EAST HOLLYWOOD— A Los Angeles Police Department sergeant was hospitalized due to an incident on Thursday, April 27 at 10:15 a.m. The officer allegedly had part of his pinkie finger cut off at the Vermont/Santa Monica Metro Station in East Hollywood
Police approached the suspect and escorted him off the train for a narcotics investigation. As the man was being held, he became violent and began fighting with officers which resulted in a use-of-force incident.
The incident occurred on the Metro Red Line.
Witnesses said the suspect allegedly tried to bite other officers as well, according to KTLA 5.
Surgeons were unable to reattach the sergeant’s missing finger.
“I’m deeply disturbed by the vicious and gruesome attack on our Sergeant as he and other officers were simply conducting routine patrol of the transit line” stated police chief Michel Moore.
“Sergeant, we appreciate your bravery and commitment to keeping our city safe,” read an April 27 Tweet by the LAPD thanking the injured officer.
The suspect has been taken into custody and was booked on a charge of mayhem and resisting an executive order. He was briefly hospitalized for injuries he sustained during the struggle with police officers.
Metro released a statement following the incident:
“Metro extends its sympathies to the sergeant injured in this accident and thanks him for his dutiful service to help protect the safety of Metro’s customers. The Metro family wishes him a speedy recovery.
We take this matter extremely seriously and have zero tolerance for violent acts on the Metro System. We continue to work aggressively to address safety on the transit system and have directed our law enforcement partners to increase their visible presence and to actively enforce penal code violations, including enforcement of our drug-free policy.”
