Behind the Badge
A schizophrenic man who became violent after refusing to take his medication attacked two Garden Grove police officers who were trying to detain him at a care home late Tuesday night, police say.
Nam Hoag Nguyen, 41, was booked at the Orange County Jail for felony assault on a police officer causing great bodily injury, according to a news release from the Garden Grove Police Department.
The two veterans cops are recovering after being treated at a hospital and released.
The drama unfolded just after 11 p.m. at the care home in the 13900 block of Clinton Street.
The two officers, a female 20-year veteran and a male with 14 years of service, responded to the care home at 11:02 p.m. after Nguyen became violent with a caretaker who was trying to transport him in her car to a hospital for treatment.
After Nguyen vandalized the caretaker’s vehicle, she fled to her office and called the Garden Grove PD.
Nguyen ran back into his room.
The two officers tried to detain him there, but Nguyen managed to knock the male officer to the ground. Nguyen was able to get on top of the officer and repeatedly punch him in the head, according to the news release.
The female officer used her Taser on Nguyen, but it had no effect. The fight continued until enough officers arrived on the scene to restrain Nguyen and take him into custody.
The male officer suffered a concussion, blurred vision, several contusions and a cut above his left eye. He was taken to UCI Medical Center where he was treated and later released.
The female officer suffered a broken rib and pain to her left ankle. She also was treated and later released.
“Unfortunately in situations involving subjects suffering from a mental illness, officers sometimes are confronted with a person with a seemingly high pain tolerance and super-human strength,” said Garden Grove Police Lt. Ben Stauffer. “This appears to be one of those cases in which our officers were attacked and injured trying to help a person get the treatment he needed.”
