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LEO stabbed with screwdriver after confronting shoplifter

The screwdriver, which was deflected by body armor, caught the officer in the arm

By Tad Vezner
Pioneer Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A suspected shoplifter stabbed a St. Paul officer in the chest with a screwdriver Monday evening — knocking off his body camera — though the blow was fully deflected by the officer’s armored vest, police said.

Police were called just after 8 p.m. to a Lunds & Byerlys grocery store after store employees saw the woman shoplifting.

An officer providing security while working off-duty at the store confronted the 23-year-old woman, and an altercation ensued.

According to police, the woman took out a screwdriver and stabbed the officer, but the blade didn’t penetrate his vest.

The officer suffered a cut to his arm before other officers arrived and helped to handcuff the woman, police said. Neither the officer nor the woman required medical care.

The woman — who was still being interviewed by police late Monday evening and was not immediately identified — was in the process of being booked into the Ramsey County jail for probable cause of felony assault, according to police Cmdr. Ed Lemon.

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