Police officer stabbed in store

PAINTSVILLE, Ky. (WSAZ) - An officer who was stabbed while responding to a call at a department store is sharing his story.

Officer Tyler Cable has served two years on the Paintsville Police Department.

He loves that every day of his job is different, but of course that unpredictability comes with potential danger.

“It seems like I get the best of the worst,” he said.

Staff at a department store in Paintsville called police Monday, reporting a man inside was acting strange.

Cable says when he arrived, the suspect, Justin Fields, was eating peanuts out of a bag he hadn’t paid for and appeared to be under the influence.

“I asked him to step outside with me,” Cable says.

Cable says then Fields stabbed him in the elbow with a pocket knife he’d wrapped up in the peanut bag.

“He had the knife in his coat pocket on his right side,” Cable said. “That’s when he evidently wrapped it up really quickly and stabbed my arm. I pushed him off of me to get distance.”

Cable says the suspect then took off running trying to get away, but the automatic doors at the store exit wouldn’t open.

“He kind of smacked into it,” Cable said.

The officer used a Taser on Fields, and he was taken into custody after resisting, Cable said.

Constable Bruce Ritz also responded to the call.

“It happens everywhere, just about,” Ritz said. “It kind of scared me after it was all over with.”

“It just blows my mind someone would do that,” Cable said. “Then again, it doesn’t.”

Cable says Fields also had a needle, and he told them he’d done meth before he entered the store.

The officer’s wound was minor. He did go to a hospital to get checked out.

“The adrenaline was still going, and I knew I still had a job to do to detain the guy who’d stabbed me to protect and serve the community and make sure he wasn’t going to get away and do it somewhere else,” Cable said.

The suspect is facing a long list of charges, including first-degree assault on a police officer and public intoxication.

He was taken to the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center.

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