A District man has been charged with stabbing a Metro Transit Police Department officer who tried to stop him from evading his fare at the Navy Yard Metrorail station.
According to a Wednesday statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Erik Schleehauf, 43, was spotted by an MTPD sergean standing on a fare machine and jumping over glass gates at the station that serves the Washington Nationals’ stadium.
After being confronted, Mr. Schleehauf took out a hidden sharpened tool and stabbed the sergeant in the face, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The time of the assault was around 2:26 p.m. Tuesday.
Mr. Schleehauf has been charged with assault of a police officer while armed and assault with a deadly weapon.
He appeared in court Wednesday and was ordered to be held without bond. He is due back in court on Friday for a preliminary hearing.
In the District, where this act occurred, fare evasion is a civil fine with a $50 penalty. In Maryland and Virginia, fare evasion is a criminal violation punishable by a fine of up to $100.
The sergeant’s puncture wounds were non-life threatening and other MTPD officers in the vicinity arrested Mr. Schleehauf at the scene.
The officer was helped by the security detail of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who was headed to the Navy Yard station to talk about transit safety, and also got treatment at a local hospital.
Also Wednesday, Mr. Duffy met to discuss the incident and safety on Metro more broadly with Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority CEO and General Manager Randy Clarke, Metro Board Chair and D.C. appointee Valerie Santos, and MTPD Chief Michael Anzallo.
On X, Mr. Clarke thanked Mr. Duffy for meeting “to discuss how we can collaborate & partner to ensure America’s Metro System continues to provide the great safe, frequent, reliable & cost efficient service our national capital region needs and deserves.”
