Man Fights Off 10 Officers After Biting Patient

A San Clemente man in a Riverside hospital flew into a frenzy and bit off the penis of an 83-year-old patient, then fought off 10 police officers, leaving them bruised and bloodied before he was restrained, authorities said Tuesday.

Steven Dale Halsey, 25, was under guard at Riverside General Hospital after the bizarre Monday attack on the patient and the ensuing fracas, police and hospital officials said.

Police suspect that Halsey was in the grip of PCP, a powerful psychoactive drug that can leave a user impervious to pain and seemingly bestowed with superhuman strength.

“It was quite a struggle, the officers were soaked in blood when it was all over,” Riverside Police Det. Steve Johnson said. “Blood was everywhere. They finally used a swarm tactic to bring him down.”

The elderly man, whose identity was not released, underwent reconstructive surgery Monday, according to a police source, but a hospital administrator declined to discuss his condition, citing patient confidentiality.

Halsey probably will face charges of resisting arrest, assault on police officers and aggravated mayhem, the charge for severing or rending body tissue, Johnson said.

Halsey had been admitted to the hospital emergency room with a head injury Sunday night after he was thrown from his car when it clipped another vehicle on the Riverside Freeway, the California Highway Patrol said. A field sobriety test indicated that Halsey was under the influence of a drug, according to CHP records.

About seven hours after arriving at the hospital, Halsey jumped from his bed in the intensive care unit and lunged at the man in the next bed, authorities said.

Halsey allegedly yanked out the patient’s intravenous needles and tubes before biting off his penis, police said. Hospital staffers grabbed Halsey, but he fought them off, police said.

Two Riverside sheriff’s deputies assigned to the hospital jail ward joined in the melee, but the suspect “tossed them around,” Johnson said. They were not seriously injured, authorities said.

Eight Riverside police officers who were summoned to the scene struck Halsey with batons with no effect, Johnson said. Finally, the officers managed to throw a sheet over Halsey and pile on top of him while nurses gave him a tranquilizer, police said.