An on-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer was hurt during a confrontation with a man at the department’s Harbor Station late Saturday that ended up with the man taking the officers gun and going on a short car chase.
The attack happened just before 10 p.m. in the lobby of the Harbor Station The injured officer, who was taken to a hospital and was expected to recover, has been with the department for at least three decades, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said during a press conference.
The officer suffered injuries consistent with being pistol-whipped after the suspect hit the officer several times in the head with his gun.
According to the DailyMail
A Los Angeles police officer is lucky to be alive after an assailant walked into his police station, knocked him to the ground, pistol-whipped him with his own weapon, and then pulled the trigger repeatedly at point blank range.
Jose Cerpa Guzman, 29, was arrested for attempted murder of a police officer. He is being held in lieu of $2.23million bail, the Los Angeles Times reported.
He likely would have killed the officer, who has not been identified, if the gun did not have a safety mechanism that prevented it from firing.
The officer managed to escape with ‘bumps and bruises,’ according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The dramatic encounter was caught on surveillance footage from inside the Harbor Community police station in San Pedro on Saturday night.
Initially, the officer and the assailant, who is dressed in a white short-sleeve shirt and dark pants, appear to be engaged in a heated conversation.
The assailant then leaves through the front door only to re-enter the station a few seconds later.
He then starts shoving the police officer and throws a punch.