Local News in Brief : Garden Grove : Firefighter Arrested in Machete Incident

A firefighter from Huntington Beach has been arrested on suspicion of slashing a Costa Mesa man in the leg with a machete during an apparent attempt to break up a fight on the Garden Grove Freeway.

Thomas Alan Baker, 43, who identified himself as a Los Angeles County firefighter, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, according to Police Sgt. Phil Mason. He was released from Orange County Jail on Wednesday on $10,000 bail.

The attack occurred after Frank Wallace, 24, of Costa Mesa and an unidentified man stopped on the Garden Grove Freeway at Brookhurst Street about 10 p.m. Tuesday and began fighting, police said.

“Then a third party (with a machete) comes from nowhere, evidently trying to break the fight up . . . ,” Mason said. “He starts hitting (Wallace and the unidentified man) with the flat part of the blade, not with the sharp edge.”

However, he then struck Wallace below the knee, leaving a 5-inch gash to the bone, Mason said. Wallace, who was treated at a hospital and released, provided a license plate number that led police to Baker, Mason said. No machete was found, he said.

Police Thursday still were looking for the unidentified man involved in the fight.