Shoplifter chops off Wash. security guard's ear

[December 13, 2011]  LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) -- Police in Washington state say a shoplifter with a hatchet sliced off most of a store security guard's ear.

Longview police Sgt. Doug Kazensky tells The Daily News that the shoplifter pulled a small hatchet out of his waistband Monday afternoon and swung, chopping off nearly the entire ear.

The guard was taken to a Portland hospital for emergency plastic surgery in an attempt to reattach the ear.

The attacker remained at large.

The assault took place just outside the garden center entrance of a Fred Meyer supermarket. Kazensky says two security officers were trying to apprehend the man, who was suspected of taking CDs, bike chains and other small items.

The man apparently brought the hatchet to the store with him.

[Associated Press]

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