Los Angeles police arrested a man who two officers said jabbed them with a syringe in Venice while attempting to escape the scene of a crash last night.

The man, whose name had not been released this morning, was arrested on suspicion of possesson of narcotics late Tuesday after he crashed a white van into several parked cars near Strongs Drive and Washington Boulevard at about 10:10 p.m., said Los Angeles Police Officer Kate Lopez.

The man first attempted to drive away from the scene, Lopez said. When two officers tried to remove him from the van, he struggled with them, she said, pricking both with a syringe.

Both officers were later treated and released from a local hospital, Lopez said.

The man, who suffered facial and head injuries, was also taken to a local hospital, treated and released into police custody, where he remained this morning, she said.

Lopez said it was not clear why the driver had the syringe or whether he had been using illicit drugs.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com