San Diego

A man who had been cited earlier in the day for allegedly beating his girlfriend was arrested Monday after an attack on a parking enforcement officer.

Officer Rhonda Lopez, 31, was impounding a car about 10:30 a.m. in the 4100 block of Front Street when a man came up and started screaming at her. He punched her in the face, kicked her in the stomach and slammed a car door on her leg, police said.

The driver of a tow truck saw the attack and, using Lopez’s radio, reported it to police. Police said the man fled on foot and headed toward UC San Diego Medical Center, where his girlfriend was being treated.

Authorities said Peter Joseph King, 36, had been arrested, cited and released earlier Monday for allegedly beating his girlfriend, Elaine Wilkerson, 28. Police said King apparently drove Wilkerson to UCSD Medical Center for treatment; once there, she complained of having been beaten.

King returned to the hospital after the attack on Lopez and started threatening to kill Wilkerson, police said. He ran from the hospital and was captured nearby by police.

King was booked into County Jail on suspicion of assault.

According to police spokesman Bill Robinson, this is the third assault this year on a parking enforcement officer. In February, an officer was dragged a short distance by an irate motorist, and last month a man ran over an officer’s foot as the officer was impounding his car.