Man shot, policeman stabbed in altercation on Main Street
Officer's bullet proof vest saved him from puncture to the abdomen
An Asbury Park police officer shot a man after the man stabbed another officer in an altercation on the sidewalk in front of a building in the 600 block of Main Street Monday.
Police responded to a report of a disorderly persons at 619 Main St. around 9:20 a.m. where they found 22-year-old Oswaldo Torres Quiroz brandishing an eight- to 10-inch long steak knife, according to Mark LeMieux, first assistant prosecutor for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
Police Officers Carl Christie and Johnny Washington were “immediately accosted by the subject,” when they arrived at the scene, LeMieux said. In Christie’s attempt to subdue Quiroz, Quiroz swung his knife at Officer Carl Christie, puncturing his bullet proof vest in the abdominal area and causing lacerations to his right wrist and one of his fingers. The vest saved Christie from puncture wound in belly, LeMieux.
“Thank god it did not penetrate and hit his skin,” he told the Sun.
Oswaldo then attempted to grab Washington’s gun, at which time Washington shot one round of his .40 caliber police issue handgun into Quiroz, hitting him in the abdomen, LeMieux said.
“He [Washington] basically had absolutely no choice,” LeMieux said.
Christie, a 23-year veteran of the force who has served the department for the past 16 years, was treated at an area hospital and has been released, said LeMieux. Officer Washington was also treated for respiratory injuries and was released, he said. Police Officer Anthony Butler, who also responded, was uninjured.
Quiroz underwent surgery for a life-threatening injury and is still presently being treated, he said.
A former girlfriend of Quiroz, a 21-year-old woman who lives in a second floor apartment building at the address, told police her ex was outside and she did not want to go out and deal with him. The two had dated for three months but have not dated for the past six months, LeMieux said.
Police are asking anyone who has information or who may have witnessed the incident to contact Dets. Rosendo Perez and Ryan Muller at 1-800-533-7443.
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