An incident that began as a domestic dispute ended with an officer stabbed and a suspect dead early Monday morning, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
Police opened fire on Jerome Nichols, 42, of Catasauqua, Pa., after he allegedly stabbed a Catasauqua officer following a high-speed chase and crash, authorities said.
The incident began around 4 a.m. with a domestic dispute call that sent police to a home in Whitehall Twp.
When they arrived, they found Jazqueline Leibeguth had been stabbed by Nichols, who was her ex-boyfriend, police said.
“I heard a loud bang and ‘Help me! Help me!’” said neighbor Jennifer Brown. “So I banged on the wall and said, ‘I’m calling the police.’”
Right before police arrived at Leibeguth’s house, Nichols allegedly hopped in his black SUV and fled to a home in neighboring Catasauqua. From there, Nichols took off again leading Catasauqua and state police on a chase that ended when he went over a snow bank and crashed into a fence in East Allentown, officials said.
Nichols got out of his car on the 1300 block of Plymouth St. and stabbed a Catasauqua officer, according to authorities.
Police opened fire, killing Nichols, they said.
"Now she doesn't have to worry about that kind of domestic drama and abuse anymore,” said Brown.
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The officer, who is in his 30s, underwent emergency surgery at St. Luke's Hospital and is recovering, said police.
The Lehigh County Coroner's office, Pennsylvania State Police, Allentown Police Department, the Lehigh County District Attorney's office and the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force are all investigating the incident.
