By David Gambacorta
Philadelphia Daily News
PHILADELPHIA — A police sergeant was stabbed in the arm yesterday by a naked, mentally unstable man in Germantown, police said.
The drama began shortly after 1 p.m., when a pair of patrol officers from the 14th District, Haines Street near Germantown Avenue, were called to Rittenhouse Street near Sprague by several people who wanted to have a relative committed, said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.
The officers checked to make sure the family members had completed the necessary involuntary commitment forms, then headed to the second floor of a rowhouse where they found the agitated, 31-year-old man standing naked, Vanore said.
He said that the man darted into a bedroom and returned with a 6-inch knife, then ignored the officers’ repeated pleas to drop the knife and get dressed.
Sgt. Wanda Newsome was called to the scene to help calm the knife-wielding man.
“At some point, he became agitated, and she was forced to utilize her Taser on him,” Vanore said.
Despite the use of a stun gun, the man lunged forward and plunged the knife into Newsome’s left arm, he said.
Another officer opened fire with his gun and wounded the man once in the finger, Vanore said.
Newsome, 38, was admitted to Albert Einstein Medical Center in good condition. The 20-year veteran has several other relatives on the police force.
The assailant, whose name was not released yesterday because charges had not been filed, was also in good condition at Einstein, Vanore said.
Copyright 2009 Philadelphia Daily News