Md. stabbing suspect apprehended after being tased twice, rammed by police vehicle
A stabbing suspect was arrested Saturday afternoon in Arnold, Maryland, after an armed confrontation with police during which officers tased him twice and struck him with a police vehicle, according to Anne Arundel County police.
The department said it was called to a stabbing in progress around 3:45 p.m. Saturday in the 100 block of Campus Green Drive. According to police, a woman and her adult son were driving on that road when the suspect, identified as Theodore Buffington, was standing in the road and refused to move out of the way.
Once the woman stopped the car, Buffington threw himself inside and started yelling that she hit him with the car. That’s when the woman called 911 and her son got out of the car to confront Buffington. The two had a confrontation and Buffington pulled a knife and stabbed the son twice before walking away from scene, according to police.
Officers confronted Buffington in the area of College Parkway and Peninsula Farm Road. Police said he had a 6-inch blade in a sheath on his hip and had blood stains on his shirt.
When officers ordered Buffington to get on the ground, police said he refused and officers tased him.
“When he was tased, he fell to the ground, but immediately got back up, ripped the taser prongs out of his body and his clothing and then drew the knife,” Jacklyn Davis, spokeswoman for Anne Arundel County police, said. “So, he’s now standing there in front of these officers who’ve already tased him, with a knife, refusing, still, to comply with their commands.”
That’s when another police officer who was approaching the scene drove onto the curb and hit Buffington from behind. Officers then attempted to arrest him, but police said he continued to fight and they tased him again. Buffington finally gave up, was taken into custody, treated by medical professionals and given “a plethora of charges.” He’s being held at the Jennifer Road Detention Center.
“Had our officers not taken that decisive action, who knows what could’ve happened,” Davis said. “I think we can all say that could have been so much worse.”
The victim of the stabbing, a 20-year-old man, was taken to a trauma center with serious, but non life-threatening injuries.
“This is obviously a very concerning case to us,” Davis said. “We don’t have [a motive], and that’s terrifying to us, because that could be anyone.”
Below is a map of where the stabbing occurred: