A security officer, bloodied after being shot in the head with a flare gun, pursued his suspected assailant in Old Sacramento and helped with the arrest, Sacramento police said.
Kyle Karr, 25, reached while he was undergoing a medical test Monday, said the incident began about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Young women who work at an Old Sacramento bar told Karr, who patrols Old Sacramento, that a man had thrown objects at them.
Karr, who declined to identify his employer, approached the man and told him to leave the area. The man answered repeatedly in foul language that he was going to kill him, Karr said.
Karr retreated but the man followed for about 100 yards. He then jumped in front of the security officer, who was not armed with a gun.
Karr said the man then repeated the threats. Karr said he tried again to get away from the man and get backup.
The security officer said the man then lifted up his shirt and pulled something from his waistband. Karr thought it might be a squirt gun.
"He pointed it at me," said Karr. "I tried to get out of the way. Even if it was a squirt gun, I didn't like it. Then he pulled the trigger and I heard a loud bang. I was like: 'OK, that wasn't a squirt gun.' "
Karr said he sprayed the man with pepper spray. The man left the immediate area, making his way to a tunnel that leads from Old Sacramento to the K Street Mall.
Police said Karr chased the suspect. Karr said he had blood flowing from his head and streaming into his eyes, and that he could barely see the fleeing man.
A bouncer from a bar helped handcuff the man and the two brought him to a spot where he was taken into custody by Sacramento police.
"I kinda passed out after that," said Karr.
Police booked Gregory Griffin, 52, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and battery.
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