Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) Near Miss is a voluntary, non-disciplinary officer safety initiative that allows law enforcement personnel to read about and anonymously share stories of close calls or “near misses,” which provide lessons learned that can protect fellow officers in similar situations.
Event summary
I responded to a report of a female being actively battered in the parking lot of a bar during a late-night call. The initial radio dispatch stated a male subject was actively punching a collapsed female in the face while holding her up by her hair, which was then updated to state that the suspect was dragging the female through the parking lot by her hair.
I arrived at the parking lot entrance within two minutes in my marked patrol vehicle with emergency lights activated. I observed a string of citizens flagging me down and pointing further down the parking lot. As I made my way through the parking lot, I observed a group of agitated subjects who appeared to be at the core of a disturbance.
I stopped my vehicle approximately 20 feet away from the subjects and observed an unarmed city-employed security guard facing east engaged with a white male (suspect).
The two were separated by a few feet and the security guard had both his open hands fully extended in front of him and appeared to be attempting to prevent the suspect from getting closer to him. Another male subject was yelling at the suspect over the security guard’s left shoulder and pointing his index finger at him in an accusatory manner. I was later advised that this male subject was a witness to the battery of the female.
Several people present pointed out the suspect while excitedly exclaiming that he just beat up a woman in the parking lot. The suspect’s hands were balled into fists. His facial expression portrayed intense anger and focus on the male who was pointing his finger at him.
As I approached on foot wearing a fully marked police uniform, I could not see anything in his fists. The male witness who was wagging his finger suddenly turned away from the suspect and started to walk toward the bar, effectively breaking contact and removing himself from the altercation.
I was still approaching on foot and only a few feet away at this point. As the witness took a few steps, I saw the suspect raise his fists and suddenly lunge forward toward the witness, who had his back to the suspect. It appeared to be an imminent violent attack on behalf of the suspect against the witness who was walking away.
I yelled, “Stop, police, stop!”
The suspect did not comply, so I rushed him on his right side and shoved him down onto a bench so that he was seated. The bench was the only area not immediately occupied by other people to include the guard, the witness and numerous citizens present and observing.
I then yelled at him, “Police, stay down! You’re under arrest!”
The suspect turned his head toward me, looked me in the eye and stated, “I’m gonna get you ****!” He then raised his fists toward me and lunged off of the bench at me and collided into me.
As his arms made contact with my chest, I clinched with him, throwing my right hand forcefully onto the back of his head and pulling down while my left arm scooped under his right arm in an attempt to reach towards his back. He continued to try and plow into me as I exclaimed, “Police, stop resisting! Police, stop resisting!”
I gained control of the suspect in the clinch, but he did not stop attacking. With his right arm, he then started rapidly punching my left hip/thigh (approximately 10-12 times), which was the extent that he could reach me. I then sidestepped to unbalance him and took him to the ground. As I shifted my leg position to mount him, he stopped punching my left hip, as it was now out of reach, and started punching my left lower leg (calf area) at least six times. As he did so, I started to struggle for control of his arms while I was on top of him in order to complete an arrest.
Other officers arrived and joined in the struggle. The suspect continued to flail, kick, punch and resist arrest against myself and two other officers. Attempts by the other officers to deploy TASER contact shots were not able to have any effect as the suspect’s continuous struggling, flailing, kicking and punching kept the TASER from making contact with him.
During the struggle, I heard one of the other officers exclaim, “He’s got a shiv!” (blade). As he did so, I realized that several of the punches to my thigh/hip, as well as my calf, had been stab wounds, and I now felt blood running down my left leg. I then realized the suspect been stabbing me and not punching me. One of the other officers then exclaimed that he had been stabbed in the hand.
While on top of the suspect, I managed to pin his right wrist to the ground but did not initially see anything in his balled fist. A flashlight beam spotlighted his hand, and I was then able to see a small blade protruding from the lower portion of his fist in an icepick grip. While pinning his wrist down, he was constantly trying to swivel, squirm, or rotate his wrist so that the blade would rake across my hand. I repeatedly yelled at him, “Drop the knife!” with no result. The struggle had been active for approximately 1½ to 2 minutes, and the suspect’s actions had only intensified. He had a handcuff on one wrist and was still in control of the knife, actively attempting to cut officers. Due to the number of officers struggling with him, and the presence of perhaps one or two dozen spectators in close proximity, there was no safe option for deploying a firearm.
A sergeant managed to tap the end of his baton against the suspect’s hand without striking mine in the process, which shifted his grip on the knife. I then managed to pry several of the fingers of his right hand back while one of the other officers held the suspect’s wrist. The knife was then pulled free and pushed clear of the melee. As other officers arrived to assist in completing the arrest, I got off of the suspect, moved away from the melee, and stood on the knife until he was fully handcuffed.
During the fight, I received three stab wounds to my left upper outer thigh, three stab wounds to my left calf and an abrasion to my left calf. A later inspection of my pants showed that my employee ID card, which was in my left pants cell phone pocket, absorbed at least two stabs. My uniform shirt had a fresh hole and drag mark over my heart consistent with a stab. An inspection of my ballistic vest under the uniform shirt also showed a stab mark penetrating the vest cover and entering the soft trauma plate, but with no penetration past the accessory soft trauma plate. One officer was stabbed in the space between his ring and middle finger, and another officer received an abrasion from the blade being raked across the back of his hand. Thankfully, none of our injuries were deemed serious or life-threatening. The female battery victim was located and treated by EMS for non-life-threatening injuries.
Lessons Learned
- The TASER was unsuccessful in this incident, and impact weapons had a very limited utility. A few years of low-level Jiu Jitsu and wrestling training (which was ceased years ago) kept this as a near miss. It was physical control over the subject (hands on) that kept his damage to us at a minimum. The training and communication between officers in the struggle also kept the level of our injuries as minimal as we could hope for.
- Had I not clinched with the subject, he would have had the opportunity to repeatedly strike me. Had I not clinched successfully and taken him down, he would have been able to stab the inner portion of my upper thigh (femoral artery area) and abdomen.
- Had any of the officers on scene chose to discharge a firearm, it is very likely bystanders or officers would have also been injured due to crowding and backdrop.
- Wear your vest! Wearing my ballistic vest did stop one stab attempt at my heart, even though it was not designed for edged weapons.
- Fitness, defensive tactics training and communication during stressful encounters need to be reinforced because they work.
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR NEAR MISS
Support this critical officer safety initiative by reading and sharing the near-miss stories and lessons learned that your fellow officers have shared, and consider sharing your own near-miss experiences at LEOnearmiss.org.