Global Courant
An off-duty Los Angeles police officer was arrested Wednesday in San Bernardino County on suspicion of allegedly following a fellow bar patron into a bathroom and stabbing the man, according to Los Angeles Police Department sources.
Arthur Contreras, 55, was arrested at about 3:14 p.m. Wednesday by Upland police at a home in the town of nearly 70,000 on the western edge of San Bernardino County. He was held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.
He was released from prison after posting $40,000 bail, and will make his first appearance Friday morning at the Rancho Superior Courthouse in Rancho Cucamonga.
It was not clear if he had a lawyer.
An LAPD personnel directory shows that Contreras is an officer in the Detective Support and Vice Division and joined the force in 1995.
Details of the incident were not immediately known, but a department source with knowledge of the matter said the alleged attack took place at an unnamed bar around lunchtime on Wednesday. Contreras is suspected of following a fellow bartender into a bathroom, where the off-duty officer allegedly tried to stab the man in the chest, but instead severed the man’s arm, the source said.
Captain Kelly Muniz, a police spokesman, confirmed on Thursday that Contreras was an LAPD officer. She said Contreras has been placed on administrative leave, but referred further questions to Upland police.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday morning.
