Los Angeles, CA – Two New York City detectives said Thursday that chemistry built over an eight-year partnership helped them quickly subdue a man accused of slashing a Russian tourist on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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Detectives Albert Ramos and Dan Mulligan, in Los Angeles on police business, were off-duty and had just left a coffee shop Wednesday afternoon when they heard a commotion and saw two men struggling by a concrete bench across the street from the TCL Chinese Theatre, they said.
Wearing plainclothes but armed with their handguns and donning their detective shields, the New York Police Department investigators approached the men and noticed one bleeding profusely from the neck while lying on the bench. The officers said they saw the other, identified by police as Donald Offerman, standing above the victim with a large kitchen knife.
“My partner said, ‘Hey, Al, he’s got a knife,'” Ramos said. “I drew my weapon and said, ‘I got it.'”
Ramos, standing on one side of the bench, then ordered Offerman to drop the knife and get on the ground while Mulligan covered him from the other side, they said.
“Your training kicks in and you just go,” Mulligan said.
“We work well together,” Ramos added. “We mesh well together.”
A nearby worker handed Ramos cable ties, which he used to secure Offerman’s hands until Los Angeles police arrived to make an arrest, he said. Meanwhile, Mulligan helped the victim’s wife render aid to her husband, he said.
“He knew what I was doing, and I knew what he was doing,” Ramos said of his partner. “We were able to take him into custody without actually shooting him. Fortunately, he put the knife down.”
The victim, described by police as a tourist in his 20s visiting Los Angeles with family, was taken to a hospital and underwent surgery. He was expected to survive.
Offerman, 54, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, said Jane Kim, Los Angeles police officer. He was in custody Thursday on $100,000 bail. Kim didn’t know his address or whether he had an attorney.
Wednesday’s stabbing occurred in an area heavily trafficked by tourists who visit the TCL Chinese Theatre, the site of the Oscars red carpet, movie premieres and Walk of Fame. Witnesses described a chaotic scene during the stabbing, with store owners locking their doors until police gave the all-clear.
A 23-year-old woman was fatally stabbed near there in June 2013 after refusing to pay panhandlers $1 for taking their photo.
who did the stabbing, a follower of Mahmud?