Officer Stabs Suspect During Arrest

A Ventura police officer stabbed a suspect he was attempting to arrest when the man reached for the officer’s service revolver early Saturday morning, authorities said.

Officer Christopher Davis, a four-year veteran, had chased the man, Benjamin Aragon, 33, from a Mobil gas station at 776 S. Seaward Ave., where Aragon had reportedly terrorized a woman locked in her car, police said.

When officers arrived on the scene about 4:20 a.m., Aragon reportedly fled from the gas station and climbed onto the roof of a nearby building in the 2300 block of Vista Del Mar Drive. Police and members of the Ventura Fire Department and the county Mental Health Crisis Team tried to coax Aragon down and into custody, the spokeswoman said. Instead of surrendering, Aragon swung down from the roof on a loose electrical cable and started running, authorities said.

Davis followed on foot, trapping Aragon near a chain-link fence, police said. Aragon tried to fight his way free after refusing to be arrested, the spokeswoman said. As Davis struggled to restrain him, Aragon hit, bit, and tried to choke the officer, police said. Finally, Aragon tried to grab the officer’s gun, and Davis pulled a knife and stabbed the suspect in the chest, authorities said.

Aragon was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and taken to Ventura County Medical Center, where he was treated and was being held for observation, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Aragon had a previous outstanding warrant for resisting a prior arrest, police said.