DUARTE : Vest Saves Life of Deputy Attacked With Knife
A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy escaped injury when his protective vest absorbed the blows of a knife wielded by a woman in Duarte early Thursday, authorities reported.
The woman, Donna Coongiggar, 37, a transient from Arcadia, was booked for investigation of attempted murder on a peace officer and held in lieu of $1-million bail, sheriff’s spokesman Bill Wehner said.
Deputy Robert Thoms, 35, was dispatched to a coin laundry facility on East Huntington Drive shortly before 2 a.m. after a woman, thought to be Coongiggar, reported a petty theft.
“While Thoms was still seated in the car . . . the woman suddenly reached through the open window and began striking down (with a knife) at the deputy’s neck and shoulder area,” Wehner said. “Thoms was wearing a protective vest, and it saved his life. There were two punctures on the vest over his heart area.”
Thoms and a backup deputy were able to overpower the woman.
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