Bystander aids officer when suspect attacks

A Spokane police officer was attacked early Sunday by a domestic violence suspect who trapped him in a chokehold until a bystander intervened.

Sgt. Kevin King said the officer, whom he didn’t identify, was assaulted when he responded shortly after 2 a.m. to a domestic violence call in the 400 block of East Wabash Avenue.

A caller reported that a man – later identified as 27-year-old Andrew P. Perry, of Spokane – had pushed a woman down a flight of stairs. The woman was on the street and Perry was walking away when the officer arrived.

King said the officer ordered Perry to stop, but he began running between houses. Perry slipped and fell on ice when he reached an alley, and the officer ordered him to remain on the ground.

Instead, King said, Perry shouted an expletive at the officer and rose to a “fighting stance.” When the officer attempted to subdue Perry, he also fell on the ice and Perry allegedly pounced on him.

King said Perry got the officer in a “guillotine” hold and was trying to choke him into unconsciousness.

“Get him,” Perry called to someone, according to King.

Realizing that Perry might soon be able to seize his pistol and that the conflict had escalated to a point that warranted deadly force, the officer started to draw his weapon. Then, King said, a bystander – whose identity wasn’t disclosed – broke the chokehold and helped the officer overpower Perry.

Perry was booked into jail on suspicion of second-degree assault against the officer and fourth-degree domestic assault against the woman who was pushed down the stairs.

The person who rescued the officer helped avert a “potentially tragic situation,” King said.