Bulletproof Vest Saves Santa Ana Police Officer in Stabbing
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SANTA ANA — A Santa Ana police officer was saved by his bulletproof vest Friday when a woman whose child was being taken into protective custody stabbed the officer in the chest, police said.
The incident took place about 4:50 p.m., when two officers were accompanying state social services workers to a home in the 1200 block of East 14th Street. Social workers were serving a court order to take the child into protective custody, Police Lt. Jose Garcia said.
The child’s mother, 30-year-old Ranon Nishelle Pickens, retrieved a butcher knife from a shopping bag in the bedroom and tried to plunge it in the chest of one of the officers, Garcia said. The vest worn by the 12-year veteran saved the officer from a more serious injury, he said.
“It appears what actually saved him was that vest,” Garcia said.
The other officer suffered minor cuts in the struggle to subdue Pickens, who was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, officials said.
The wounded officer was listed in stable condition Friday at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana.
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