Rat Bites Baltimore City Police Officer
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Baltimore City police officer is on medical leave after a tiny intruder gave him some big problems.
This rat snuck into the officer's cruiser and crawled up his back.
Thinking his colleague was playing a joke by tickling his neck, the sergeant took a swipe with his arm. The rat bit the officer on the palm and thumb of his right hand, according to a police spokesman.
The officer was able to roll down his window and throw the rodent onto the side of the road on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge, also known as the Hanover Street Bridge. With his sergeant bleeding, his colleague sped to Harbor Hospital. A doctor then told him he needed to go back and get the rat to have it tested for rabies.
The officers returned to the bridge, where they found the rat. Another struggle ensued, with the police prevailing this time. WJZ's media partner, The Baltimore Sun, reports an officer beat the rat to death with an umbrella.
Police bagged the dead rodent, and it's being tested. The sergeant is out recovering for a few days.
Robert F. Cherry, the police union president, told the Baltimore Sun officers from their first days in patrol know that running into alleys and onto streets means not only watching out for broken glass and drug needles, "but also rats."
