Off-Duty LAPD Officer Hurt While Trying to Foil Robbery

An off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer underwent surgery Saturday after he was struck by a car while trying to stop a sidewalk robbery at the downtown intersection of Broadway and 8th Street, authorities said.

Officer Alex Salazar, a member of the Wilshire Patrol Division, was driving south on Broadway when he saw the robbery occurring shortly before noon, said Officer Lawrence Molinar, an LAPD spokesman. Details on Salazar’s condition were unavailable, said Molinar, who was unable to confirm a report that the officer suffered a broken ankle.

Salazar was wearing civilian clothes when he left his car to try to make an arrest, Molinar said. Several bystanders joined in an attack on the officer, forcing Salazar into the street, where he was struck, the spokesman said. Police later arrested a 25-year-old male, whose name was not released.

The investigation is continuing, Molinar said.