A man in his 30s was arrested Wednesday for an alleged early morning rampage around Union Station in which a security guard was hurt, police cars were damaged and a Metro vehicle was stolen and crashed, according to Los Angeles police.
The trail of destruction began about 4:30 a.m. outside Union Station, LAPD Officer Sal Ramirez said.
Two LAPD black-and-whites were parked in a lot outside the station when the suspect smashed out windows in both vehicles and then stole some property from the patrol cars, Ramirez said. The suspect then smashed a window in a private vehicle parked in the lot and stole a bladed weapon from it, he said.
A Metro security guard tried to stop the suspect with pepper spray, but that failed to disable him, Ramirez said. The man then stole a Metro security vehicle and drove out of the lot only to crash the car on nearby Vignes Street, Ramirez said.
The suspect then returned to the station on foot, where on the Patsaouras Plaza side, he struck the security guard in the head with the bladed weapon, Ramirez said.
The man then fled to the nearby Amtrak train tracks, where he was subdued and arrested by LAPD officers, Ramirez said. The security guard was taken to a hospital for treatment of what were described as non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspect, whose name was not immediately released, was booked on suspicion of attempted murder, Ramirez said.