Long Beach : Wounded Transient to Face Court in Fight With Officer
Felony charges were filed Tuesday against a 32-year-old transient who was shot last Friday after he allegedly used a lead pipe to attack a police officer.
Melvin Dewayne Britt will be arraigned in Long Beach Municipal Court on charges of assault with a deadly weapon against a police officer. Police say that Britt knocked Police Officer Kenneth Sutton to the ground during a fight at the corner of Long Beach Boulevard and 6th Street. After Britt defied repeated orders that he put down his pipe, police said, Sutton shot him in the chest and the leg.
Britt is in stable condition after undergoing surgery Tuesday for 14 bullet wounds at St. Mary Medical Center, according to hospital spokeswoman Carolyn Cohen. Medical personnel estimate that police fired six or seven bullets. Police said no more than six were fired.
Sutton is home recovering from a blow to the head and a fractured vertebrae, according to homicide Detective Bill Collette.
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