Officers Injured by Man Throwing a Beer Bottle

A man is in custody Tuesday on suspicion of hurling a beer bottle at an LAPD squad car, shattering a window and injuring two Los Angeles police officers responding to an assault call in North Hollywood, authorities said.

The two officers were taken to Providence Saint Joseph's Medical Center in Burbank, where the one who had been driving was treated for cuts to his face and neck while his partner was treated for a cut cornea expected to heal on its own, McNeil said. Both officers were later released.

At approximately 9:30 p.m. on Monday night, a man named Adam (he did not want to provide his full name) was driving northbound on Vineland Avenue in North Hollywood, near Calvert Street, when he said he witnessed a man assaulting another man on the east side of Vineland Avenue.

Adam told Patch that he immediately called 911 "because the victim just appeared to be limp" and was being assaulted by another man, who was punching the victim in the head and body as several people just stood by and watched. 

In response to Adam's call, a North Hollywood Division LAPD patrol car quickly arrived at the scene, traveling southbound on Vineland Avenue. When the patrol unit passed the Calvert Street intersection, a person (that police believe is unrelated to the assault) threw a beer bottle at the patrol car and shattered the front driver's side window, injuring the patrol officer who was driving, said Sergeant Larry Poehls of the LAPD North Hollywood Division. 

Investigators had marked the immediate crime scene with road flares and tagged the broken bottle and shards of glass in the middle of the street as evidence.

Adam, the person who made the initial call to the police, recalls seeing "a large box of beer, like a 24-pack" and several empty glass bottles near the site of the first assault he witnessed. He described the victim as "appearing drunk." He also said he observed many people, including  two women who were seated, watching the assault as if it "was like a sporting event."  Adam said none of the witnesses on the street did anything to stop the attack or made an effort to notify police.

"They didn't want to get involved," he believed, fearing retaliation by others.  

Adam said he did not witness the assault on the police officer.

An "officer needs help" call alerted other North Hollywood patrol units to respond to "Vineland (Avenue) and Oxnard (Street)," where the injured patrol officer was transported by an LAFD rescue ambulance to Providence St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank.

"They thought they were being shot at,'' said Sgt. Glenn McNeil of the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Station. "They floored it (the squad car) to get out of the area."

Sergeant Poehls said the unnamed officer driving received facial cuts from the shattered glass, but no life-threatening injuries, and no deep wounds.

The LAPD shut down Vineland Avenue between Calvert Street and Oxnard Street, as they investigated the attack on the police car. It was at first believed that the police car assailant was fleeing in a "Dodge pickup truck," but later police learned that the Dodge truck was being driven by the first assault victim, who drove away from the crime scene. He was later transported back to the Vineland Avenue scene by an LAFD rescue ambulance after the truck's license plate was traced back to his girlfriend's house.

Around 11:30 p.m., Sergeant Poehls was asked if there was a possible suspect in custody yet, for the attack on the police officer. Sergeant Poehls said that police had isolated a possible suspect to a location inside Valley Manor, a convalescent home on Vineland Avenue, but did not elaborate on anymore details. (The possible suspect may not be a resident or worker of the Valley Manor, but someone trying to hide from the police inside the facility.) Sergeant Poehls added that whoever this person is, "he's looking at an ADW (assault with a deadly weapon) on a police officer."

The suspect was eventually apprehended, but it was not clear if he was found inside Vally Manor.

Crime in Los Angeles and the North Hollywood area may be at the  in many key categories, but recent studies show that violence against police officers is on the rise, both locally and nationally.

A recent study released in June by by the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund showed that 2010 was the deadliest on record for law enforcement officers nationwide.

Assaults on LAPD officers are up 42 percent from the same period last year, bringing the total to 97 attacks this year as of June, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck told the Daily News, and officer involved shootings are up by 40 percent.

—City News Service contributed to this report.

Related Topics: Crime, LAFD, LAPD, Los Angeles, North Hollywood, Police, Scanner, and anthony pardines

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