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LAPD Officer Saves MILK Kitchen Worker From Knife-Wielding Attacker

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(Photo by Julie Wolfson/LAist)

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An off-duty, non street-assigned, near-rookie police officer, Joseph Jarrett, intervened when a confrontation at MILK restaurant on Beverly Boulevard escalated to a life-threatening situation on July 1, according to NBC LA.

A worker was confronted by a man (identified later as "her foe in a bitter custody dispute"), and the heated argument turned violent when he pulled out a 10-inch knife and cornered her in the kitchen.

"It took a couple of seconds to figure out what was going on," remembered Jarrett. "I drew my off duty gun, went into the kitchen, identified myself and started yelling at the suspect to drop the knife. He looked at me and dropped it pretty quickly. And then I just kind of held on to him until an on duty unit was able to respond and take him into custody."

Officer Jarrett, who has less than two years experience in the Los Angeles Police Department and doesn't even work the street (he's currently assigned to jail duty) said humbly, "I honestly think I just did what any LAPD officer, or any law enforcement officer from anywhere would do," saying he was just "doing his job" and all that his training came back to him in the moment.

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