Hollywood homeless man bites off cop’s finger

A homeless man allegedly using a meth pipe at a Hollywood subway station chewed off a chunk of a veteran Los Angeles police officer’s finger during a wild arrest..

Los Angeles Police Department officers were trying to make the collar Thursday at the East Hollywood Red Line train station about 10:15 a.m., officials said. When they took the man off the train, he immediately became violent and tried to bite several of the officers.

During the struggle, the suspect bit off a chunk of a police sergeant’s pinky finger, officials said.

The sergeant — with 26 years on the job — was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, but the tip of his finger could not be reattached, according to TV station KTLA.

The suspect also was injured during the fray, and was taken to a hospital. He was later booked for mayhem and resisting an executive order.

“I’m deeply disturbed by the vicious and gruesome attack on our sergeant as he and other officers were simply conducting routine patrol of the transit line,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a statement. “We remain committed to our work each day to improve the safety of the entire transit system with dedicated patrols engaging those who pose a risk to the safety of others”

While ridership in the Los Angeles Metro train and bus system has rebounded since the pandemic, violent crimes and drug use have skyrocketed.

In 2022, violent crimes like \rape, aggravated assault, robbery and murder increased 24% compared with the prior year, according to Gina Osborn, LA Metro safety officer. As of Feb. 23, LA Metro received 1,385 incident reports of narcotics use, possession or sales.

A total of 21 people have died in the Metro system as of February, with many due to overdoses, Osborn said.

Open drug use inside the subway cars has become more commonplace — and some transients openly defecate and urinate at the train stations.

There are about 50 Metro transit officers who patrol about 100 miles of subway and rail lines in Los Angeles County, but Moore is looking to increase the number of cops to deal with the uptick of violent crimes.

LAPD and the LA County Sheriff’s Department’s contracts with Metro are set to expire in June.

“We take this matter extremely seriously and have zero tolerance for violent acts on the Metro System,” LAPD officials said in a statement regarding Thursday’s vicious attack. “We continue to work aggressively to address safety on the transit system and have directed our law enforcement partners to increase their visible presence and to actively enforce penal code violations, including enforcement of our drug-free policy.”