Police officer in squad car bitten after rat crawls up his back

Early on Wednesday, Baltimore police sergeant, Marc J. Camarote, was riding shotgun in an unmarked cruiser, speeding to a robbery call in South Baltimore. He felt something on the back of his neck, and thinking his partner was playing a joke, he took a swipe with his arm. That's when he discovered a large rodent had crawled up his back.



The rat bit the palm and thumb of Camarote's right hand. The two struggled, and the sergeant was finally able to throw the rat out of cruiser and onto the southbound lanes of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Bridge. His partner rushed to nearby Harbor Hospital, and they were told they needed to go back and find the rat, to have it tested for rabies.

They returned to the scene of the crime, and according to a well-placed police source, found the suspected rat limping along Hanover Street. A struggle ensued, the police source said, but in the end, Baltimore's Finest won the battle. One of the officer's beat the rat to death with an umbrella. The officers bagged the rodent and it's being tested for disease. The sergeant is out on medical leave, awaiting to see if the rat is diseased.



Details, including the sergeant's name, came from the police source, but the incident itself was confirmed by the Baltimore Police Department's chief spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi. He did not officially release the officer's name. It's not known how the rat infiltrated the cruiser; the source said the officers believe it crawled up through the underbelly and gnawed on some wires before it crawled to the passenger seat and up the sergeant's backside.