Off-duty Lansdale police officer stabbed in Richland Twp.

Annie McCormick Image
Saturday, July 6, 2019
Off-duty police officer stabbed in Richland Township, Pa.
Off-duty police officer stabbed in Richland Township, Pa. Watch the report from Annie McCormick on Action News at 4 p.m. on July 5, 2019.

RICHLAND TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- A Lansdale off-duty police officer is at home and resting with a shoulder injury after he was stabbed when he jumped in to assist a neighboring police department on a call.

It started with a 911 call reporting an erratic person walking along Route 309 near Tollgate Road in Richland Township Friday morning.

A Richland Township officer responded and the man pulled a knife, then ran into a nearby CVS and pulled the fire alarm, police said.

The suspect then ran down Route 309 and that's when off-duty Lansdale police officer Daniel Gallagher, who happened to be driving nearby, jumped in to assist on the call.

Gallagher, a 36-year-old nine-year veteran, was stabbed in the shoulder. He was taken to St Luke's for treatment of what are said to non-life threatening injuries.

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub identified the suspect who is in custody as 45-year-old Stephen Deatelhauser.

Deatelhauser is expected to be arraigned on charges Friday afternoon. He is facing a number of charges, including aggravated assault on a police officer.

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