SAUGUS, MASS. (WHDH) - A Saugus man is facing numerous assault charges after officials say he stabbed or slashed three police officers who responded to a report of an overdue rental van at his home on Thursday morning.
Steven Sossong, 43, is expected to be arraigned Thursday in Lynn District Court on four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and four counts of assault and battery on a police officer, according to the Saugus Police Department.
Officers investigating a report of a stolen U-Haul vehicle at a home on Tuttle Street around 7:30 a.m. encountered Sossong, who refused to leave the home, Assistant Saugus Police Chief Ron Giorgetti said at a news conference.
When the officers made entry into the home, Sossong allegedly stabbed them with a sharp weapon.
The injured officers were able to disarm Sossong and take him into custody.
All three were transported to Massachusetts General Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. They are expected to recover. A fourth officer was also hospitalized for precautionary reasons.
Giorgetti became emotional when he was asked how the officers were doing.
“They’re just beginning to comprehend what occurred,” he said before taking a long pause. “I think we’ll know more once we get additional information from the hospital.”
Sossong was taken to Melrose-Wakefield Hospital for an evaluation.
One neighborhood resident witnessed the frightening incident unfold.
“They were going to break down the door. They kept screaming, ‘Open the door! Open the door!’ Finally, they broke it down,” she recalled. “The guy opened the window and the cops went in. One of them got stabbed in the arm and the other one got something with the head because he was on the stairs and they took both the cops to the hospital and then it was like over.”
Other residents could be seen standing on their porches as waves of police officers descended on the small residential neighborhood.
“I walked out to see police cars everywhere,” one man recalled. “It’s all pretty shocking and surprising for this neighborhood because this a pretty quiet street .”
Police say there is no danger to the community at this time.
Massachusetts State Police detectives are assisting Saugus police with an investigation.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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