‘Peeping Tom’ suspect allegedly strikes Burbank police officer during foot chase
A Burbank man accused of being a “peeping Tom” was arrested Tuesday morning after engaging two police officers in a brief foot chase, during which he allegedly struck one of them in the face.
Police spotted the man, Artur Babayan, 21, after responding to an apartment complex in the 700 block of South Fifth Street near Elmwood Avenue, where a woman reported seeing a peeping Tom staring at her through a bedroom window as she showered, Sgt. Darin Ryburn said.
Babayan matched the description given by the 32-year-old woman, but police say he fled as officers approached.
During the foot chase that ensued, Ryburn said Babayan abruptly turned around and struck a female officer in the mouth.
The officers continued to chase Babayan for about a block and a half before Babayan stopped to turn around and face the female officer again, Ryburn said.
That’s when she ordered him on the ground “with her Taser drawn, and he complied,” Ryburn added.
Babayan was arrested on suspicion of assault on a police officer and loitering and peeking in a door or window, Ryburn said.
The officer suffered three small abrasions to the right side of her face, he added.
-- Maria Hsin, Times Community News