Man with machete breaks patrol car windshield, stabs Oceanside police dog

A 43-year-old man armed with a machete broke the windshield of an Oceanside police patrol vehicle and stabbed a police dog Tuesday, authorities said.

The man also stabbed himself as police tried to detain him, officials said. The dog was expected to recover.

The attack started about 5 p.m. as an officer was driving in heavy traffic on College Drive, police spokesman Tom Bussey said in a release.

The man was yelling at the officer from across the street, and then approached the patrol car, swinging the machete in a stabbing motion. The man came closer and broke the officer’s windshield with the weapon, police said.

The attack shattered the windshield, Lt. Travis Norton said. The officer was struck by glass and the assailant fled, Norton said.

Police searched the area, and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department sent a helicopter to assist in the hunt. The man was eventually found hiding in the river valley behind a car dealership.

Video from OnScene.TV showed the man wielding the machete, keeping officers at bay. Police sent in a dog to subdue the man, and video showed the dog’s jaws clamped onto the man’s left arm, preventing him from swinging the machete in his left hand.

But the man had a smaller knife in his right hand, and video showed him plunging it near the animal’s head.

Bussey said the man also stabbed himself several times in the stomach and fled again. After a two-hour search, he was captured and taken to a hospital for treatment off his wounds.

The police dog was taken to a veterinarian, Norton said. Bussey said the animal, named Chico, “is going to be OK.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Det. Dave Estrada at (760) 435-4698.

Figueroa writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.