A sexual assault suspect who prompted a non-injury police shooting when he allegedly pulled what an officer thought was a gun during a foot chase in a Bay Terraces-area neighborhood was behind bars Friday.
Maurice Dwight Littlejohn, 43, allegedly threatened officers with a cane and a knife when they contacted him shortly after 7:30 p.m. Thursday while investigating a report of a sexual assault in an apartment in the 300 block of South Meadowbrook Drive, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, which investigates shootings involving San Diego police.
One of the patrol personnel responded by zapping the suspect with an electric stun gun, which did not subdue him, sheriff's Lt. Chris Steffen said.
Sign up for our Breaking news newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
Littlejohn then ran off, and the officers gave chase.
As he ran away, the suspect allegedly reached into his waistband and grabbed something. Believing that the object was a gun, an officer fired two or three rounds from his service pistol at Littlejohn, missing him.
Following the gunfire, Littlejohn continued to run, but officers soon caught up with him and took him into custody following a struggle at the nearby intersection of Brookhaven Road and South Meadowbrook Drive.
Local
Littlejohn was treated at a hospital for minor injuries sustained from the stun gun before being booked into San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of assault and resisting arrest, the lieutenant said.
No other injuries were reported.
It remained unclear Friday afternoon what the suspect was reaching for when the officer opened fire on him, according to Steffen.
"There was no firearm located on Littlejohn," the lieutenant said. "However, a cell phone was located at the scene of the struggle. We have not determined if the object in (his waistband) was the cell phone or not."
