SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- A 27-year-old Santa Cruz man who cut his wrists in a suicide attempt later stabbed a Santa Cruz police officer in the leg and tried to stab another officer in the face, authorities said Tuesday.
About 6 p.m. Monday, family of Michael Paquette called police to report that he was suicidal, said Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark. Officers found Paquette hiding in bushes behind a store on the 1700 block of Soquel Avenue, where he was bleeding from his wrists.
Paquette didn't respond to the officers commands, Clark said, and they tried to detain him for medical treatment and a psychiatric evaluation. As the officers grabbed Paquette, he took out a folding pocket knife and stabbed an officer just below the knee, Clark said.
Paquette also tried to stab another officer in the face before the officer shot him with a Taser gun, police said.
Paquette fell and dropped the knife. He was handcuffed and taken to Dominican Hospital, then arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon against a police officer, Clark said.
The injured officer also was treated at Dominican Hospital and released.
Copyright 2014 the Santa Cruz Sentinel (Scotts Valley, Calif.)
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
