Georgia Officer Bitten by Burglary Suspect

A Columbus police officer was treated at the hospital Friday after he was bitten during an arrest.

Officer Andrew J. Fahrenbruch, 33, received the injury after sprinting several hundred yards to detain a man suspected of stealing a television from a residence in south Columbus. The bite drew blood, but police said Fahrenbruch was in good condition.

Malachi Beard, 19, was jailed on charges of burglary and obstruction. He was being held Saturday in the Muscogee County Jail on $500 bond.

Officers responding at 12:20 a.m. to a burglary call in the 3400 block of St. Marys Road said they spotted Beard climbing out of a window. After a lengthy chase, police said Beard was taken to the ground and bit Fahrenbruch on his right forearm.

A second officer, Johnny Knighten, searched Beard and found a black Emerson remote control in his back right pocket, police said.

An 18-year-old woman inside the residence told police she was awakened by a crashing sound and that she heard noises coming from her mother's bedroom, which alarmed her because her mother is currently in the hospital.

As officers were combing the area for the stolen television, Beard broke down in the back of a police car and implicated Brandon D. Waldrup, 18, and a 16-year-old accomplice. Both of them had been questioned at a nearby residence because police said they were acting suspiciously.

Officers found the 32-inch flat-screen television on the ground in the area and returned it to the 18-year-old woman.

The juvenile was arrested at the scene and charged with burglary, prowling and curfew violation. Waldrup left the scene but was later arrested and charged with burglary and prowling. Jail officials said Saturday that he posted bond and was released.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service