A Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer was hospitalized on Thursday after a homeless man allegedly bit off part of his finger at a Metro station.
LAPD officers were at the Vermont/Santa Monica Metro Station in East Hollywood at around 10:30 a.m. conducting routine work activities on the platform level, when one of the officers noticed a man “in possession of narcotic paraphernalia,” according to a report by KCAL News.
They then escorted the homeless man off the train, at which point he “became violent,” the LAPD said.
Now, a sergeant with the LAPD is in the hospital after a part of his finger was bitten off by the man. Surgeons were reportedly unable to reattach the officer’s finger.
As for the homeless man, he was identified as 36-year-old Ephraim Okorie, and was arrested and charged with mayhem and resisting an executive order. He is currently being held on $100,000 bail.
“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.
“We remain committed to our work each day to improve the safety of the entire transit system with dedicated patrols engaging those who pose a risk to the safety of others,” Moore added.
Metro also issued a statement, saying it “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,” the Metro station continued. “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,” the Metro added.
There were nearly 42,000 homeless people on the streets of the Democrat-controlled city of Los Angeles, as of last year’s count.
As Breitbart News’ Joel Pollak recently reported, many homeless people suffer chronic mental illness or addiction, and some choose to be homeless, as they prefer an environment in which they can do as they please, without interference from authorities — who are less and less inclined to enforce the law.
Homelessness in California is also driven by the high cost of housing, generous welfare benefits, exploitative drug treatment programs, and mild weather that makes street living much easier than other locations.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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