The Associated Press
RIDGE, N.Y.- A Suffolk County police officer and a police dog were stabbed with a box cutter during a struggle with an emotionally disturbed man, police said.
The incident started at about 5:15 p.m. Saturday when Officer William Krolikiewicz and his canine partner, Ike, responded to a report of a suicidal, disturbed man who had fled his house on Stony Hollow Road in Ridge, said Police Commissioner Richard Dormer.
Krolikiewicz spotted the man, Eric Cappelli, 42, in nearby Brookhaven State Park and began to track him through the woods, police said.
Cappelli brandished a box cutter and threatened to stab Krolikiewicz and Ike, Dormer said.
When Cappelli advanced on Krolikiewicz, the office released Ike to apprehend Cappelli, police said.
There was a struggle, and Cappelli stabbed Ike in the paw, police said. When Krolikiewicz went to the dog’s aid, he was stabbed in the right hand, police said.
Krolikiewicz and the dog eventually subdued Cappelli, who was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
Krolikiewicz and Ike were treated for their injuries and released.