The State - News from April 24, 1986

A supermarket security guard in West Sacramento lost a finger when a shoplifting suspect slammed a car door on it and drove off, Yolo County sheriff’s deputies said. Officers said they arrested the suspect and recovered the severed finger from the car door seam. An ambulance took the finger and the guard, James Desmond, 37, to University Medical Center in Sacramento for surgery but hospital officials said they were unable to reattach it because of extensive damage. Deputies said the incident occurred as Desmond tried to arrest a woman suspected of taking several cartons of cigarettes without paying for them. Linda May Grant, 23, and a companion, Gerard Paul Cotton, 23, were booked on suspicion of burglary, conspiracy, robbery and mayhem. Bail for each was set at $10,000.