By Debbi Farr Baker
The San Diego Union Tribune
Related: The mouth is a dangerous place, not just because it can bite
EL CAJON, Calif. – A sheriff’s deputy was bitten on the neck Wednesday night by a 16-year-old boy he was struggling to subdue during a rowdy encounter in an unincorporated area of El Cajon that also involved the boy’s mother and brother.
Authorities say the boy tried to grab the deputy’s gun and take it out of the holster during the altercation.
Deputies were sent to the home on Greenfield Drive near First Street just before 9:30 p.m. after a report of a fight involving 10 to 12 people, sheriff’s officials said.
When they got there, a woman said the boy had assaulted her 14-year-old daughter.
As deputies were talking with the woman, the boy came out of a house, puffed out his chest, held out his arms and repeatedly said “What the (expletive)?” as he walked towards them.
Deputies told the boy several times to walk to the patrol car and put his hands on the trunk. He refused to cooperate and tried to walk away, deputies said.
As one deputy tried to control the boy, the other shot him with a Taser, but he pulled the barbs out and continued to be uncooperative.
Both deputies then struggled with the boy and, officials said, that was when he tried to grab a deputy’s gun.
At that point, he bit the deputy on the neck.
The other deputy drew her gun but decided to use her baton instead.
By then, the boy’s mother and brother had joined in the fight, according to deputies.
The mother and the boy both were injured and treated at the hospital. The brother was also injured.
All three were arrested on suspicion of assault on a police officer and other charges.
The deputy, who was not identified, was also taken to the hospital for treatment of the bite as well as a lump on his forehead.
Officers from the El Cajon Police Department and officers from the California Highway Patrol also responded to the incident.
Copyright 2007 San Diego Union Tribune