Suspect is shot after punching sheriff’s employee, taking her stun gun, authorities say

A suspect who attacked an employee at the L.A. County sheriff’s Lakewood Station on Friday was shot and wounded by sheriff’s personnel, authorities said.

The suspect, a man who had been arrested on suspicion of driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent, and the female employee were taken to a hospital and were both expected to survive, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

When he was being fingerprinted, the suspect punched the 4-foot-11-inch employee in the face, took her stun gun and pulled her by her hair into a locked cell, Lt. John Corina of the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau told reporters at the scene. The employee, who was reported to have suffered a broken nose, activated an alarm alerting others in the station.

Deputies ordered the man to release the employee and used pepper spray, but he refused, authorities said.

“A couple of the deputies come into the jail with guns, but the jail door is locked, he shut it and locked it, so they have to get another jailer, get some keys, open that door,’’ Corina said. “Once they opened the door they ask him again to give up. He refuses, he points the Taser at them again and that’s when the deputy-involved shooting happens.’’

The suspect, who was said to be 5-feet-10-inches and 265 pounds, was struck in the chest and arm and was in critical but stable condition, according to the sheriff’s department.