A 44-year-old Torrance man accused of repeatedly stabbing a Long Beach police officer who had responded to a disturbance call was charged Tuesday with attempted murder and other counts.
Arturo Scott Fernandez was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Long Beach on a single count of attempted murder or a peace officer, and two counts of assault on a peace officer and resisting arrest, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The criminal complaint alleges Fernandez has a previous conviction for assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, and a juvenile court conviction for assault with a deadly weapon.
The complaint details a string of other convictions in juvenile and adult court, with Fernandez being sentenced to prison on multiple occasions.
According to Long Beach police, officers responded around 2:40 p.m. Friday to a call in the 200 block of West Broadway, west of Pacific Avenue. While en route to the scene, officers learned the man was possibly armed.
When they arrived, they found a suspect matching the description provided by the calling party and attempted to de-escalate the situation in order to get the suspect to surrender, the police department said.
The confrontation, however, escalated, and Fernandez allegedly stabbed one of the officers multiple times.
Four uniformed Department of Homeland Security federal air marshals who were working on a security assignment nearby witnessed the assault and rushed to the aid of the Long Beach police officers and assisted them in taking the knife-wielding suspect into custody, police said.
After being medically cleared at a hospital, Fernandez was booked at Long Beach City Jail, where he was being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
The officer who was stabbed was taken to the hospital but was later released.
“The violent actions of this individual serve as a stark reminder of not just the dangers faced by our police officers, but also their continued dedication to protecting our community each day,” LBPD Chief Wally Hebeish said in a statement last week. “This officer put himself in harm’s way in the defense of others and sustained serious injuries in doing so. I am very grateful that he is going to recover.
“I would also like to commend the additional LBPD officers who were on scene and the federal air marshals who helped take this dangerous suspect into custody without further incident.”
Officers recovered a knife at the scene, police said.