Redwood City: Multiple police officers injured in fight involving liquor theft

A Friday night disturbance call ended with an officer being hit in the head with a bottle and the arrest of a shoplifting suspect, authorities said.

REDWOOD CITY — Several police officers were injured in a fight with a man who allegedly hit an officer in the head with a bottle of liquor he took from a grocery store moments before the Friday night encounter, authorities said.

A 911 caller contacted police around 8:30 p.m. Friday to report a panhandler who was causing a disturbance at the Sequoia Station shopping plaza on El Camino Real near Jefferson Avenue, according to a Redwood City police news release.

Two responding officers spotted a man matching the caller’s description, and reportedly saw him enter a Safeway and quickly emerge with two bottles of alcohol, police said. The officers presumed the man had stolen the alcohol because of the short time he was inside the store.

As one of the officers approached the man to question him, police said the man “immediately struck the officer in the face with one of the bottles,” touching off a fight with the officers.

More officers went to the scene and tried to handcuff the man during a struggle in which multiple officers unsuccessfully tried to use their Tasers, police said.

As a group gathered around them — prompting San Mateo County Sheriff’s deputies to arrive and conduct crowd control — the officers eventually subdued and arrested the man, who was described as a 31-year-old Redwood City resident.

Three officers reported injuries after the encounter, according to police. One officer suffered a cut to the head, one suffered a broken ankle, and another suffered a minor hand injury.

The man was taken to a hospital for medical evaluation before being booked into the Maguire Correctional Facility on suspicion of battery causing serious bodily injury, assault on a peace officer, resisting a police officer, and petty theft, according to police and jail records. He was being held without bail because he was under parole supervision at the time of his arrest.