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An LAPD transit security vehicle. | Photo courtesy of Akino601/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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A Los Angeles Police Department sergeant was recovering Friday after a man who was escorted from a Metro B (Red) Line train became combative and bit off a portion of the sergeant’s finger.
According to the LAPD, officers were on routine patrol on the Red Line train around 10:15 a.m. Thursday when they allegedly spotted 36-year-old Ephraim Okorie in possession of drug paraphernalia. Police approached the Okorie and escorted him off the train at the Vermont/Santa Monica Station.
Police said that after Okorie was taken off the train, he “became violent and fought with the officers,” and during the ensuing struggle, Okorie bit off a portion of a finger of an LAPD sergeant.
The sergeant and Okorie were both taken to a hospital for treatment, police said.
“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,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a statement. “We remain committed to our work each day to improve the safety of the entire transit system with dedicated patrol engaging.”
Okorie was taken into custody on suspicion of mayhem and resisting an executive order. He was being held in lieu of $130,000 bail, according to jail records.
