Two off-duty NYPD officers arrested and detained a man Wednesday after he allegedly stabbed a Russian tourist at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles, Calif. The attack happened at around 1:10 p.m., the Los Angeles Police Department reported.
The unnamed Russian tourist was shopping with his family but got into an argument with the alleged homeless man, Donald Offerman, which led to the man stabbing the tourist with a kitchen knife. The tourist was stabbed several times in the face and neck when he tried to protect his family, one witness said, CBS Los Angeles reported.
Off-duty NYPD cops nab stabbing suspect in Hollywood. https://t.co/0tX6CVuLD3 @PIX11News pic.twitter.com/OUksptOTiO
— Crime Watch Daily (@CrimeWatchDaily) November 19, 2015
NYPD detectives Albert Ramos and Dan Mulligan were in Los Angeles for work and just came from a coffee shop when they saw the two men in the middle of the attack. "My partner said, 'Hey, Al, he's got a knife,'" Ramos said, according to ABC News. "I drew my weapon and said, 'I got it.'"
Ramos then ordered the attacker to put down the knife while Mulligan covered for him.
"Your training kicks in and you just go," Mulligan said.
"He knew what I was doing, and I knew what he was doing," Ramos added about their partnership. "We were able to take him into custody without actually shooting him. Fortunately, he put the knife down."
After they subdued Offerman, a worker near the area gave cable cords to Ramos, which he used a cuffs for the 54-year-old attacker.
2 off-duty NYPD cops stop stabbing suspect in Hollywood https://t.co/pnNCqK4VGP #sandiego pic.twitter.com/9Ns4FFHJGZ — San Diego News (@sandiegonewz) November 19, 2015
The victim is currently recovering in the hospital, according to Jane Kim of the LAPD.
"It's really unfortunate that someone from out of town came to visit, to relax and gets attacked in this manner," Kim said, according to the Agence France-Presse.
