'The same stuff you see on TV': Man severed his mom's arm in chainsaw attack, hospitalized 2 officers, police say

Inset: John Pittman (Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office). Background: Pittman being arrested by police on July 22, 2024 (WDSU).

A 34-year-old man in Louisiana has been arrested after he allegedly severed his 70-year-old mother’s arm with a chainsaw and then injured two police officers.

John Pittman was taken into custody on Monday and charged with one count of aggravated battery by cutting and one count of resisting arrest, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.

According to a report from New Orleans ABC affiliate WGNO, officers with the New Orleans Police Department at about 2 p.m. on July 22 responded to a call in the 1200 block of Riviera Avenue regarding an elderly woman whose arm had been severed in a chainsaw attack.

After arriving at the scene with emergency medical personnel, two officers reportedly found the woman “suffering from what appeared to be a severed arm,” NOPD spokesperson Reese Harper told reporters in a news briefing posted by New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU.

Harper said that medical technicians transported the victim to a local hospital where she was listed as being in critical condition as of Monday afternoon.

After getting a description of the suspect, two officers reportedly went to a different residence located in the 3500 block of Franklin Avenue in the Gentilly neighborhood. After reaching the second location, the officers said they came into contact with the suspected assailant — later identified as Pittman — and attempted to take him into custody, but police said he violently resisted.

Two officers sustained “mild to moderate injuries” in the process of apprehending Pittman, Harper said. They were both taken to a local hospital for medical treatment.

Officers then used a stun gun on Pittman and placed him under arrest. WGNO reported that the suspect suffered multiple abrasions and a lost tooth.

WDSU reported that one of the officers was injured when they fell down the front steps of the Franklin Avenue home and suffered a broken leg as well as head and neck injuries. The second officer reportedly suffered a bite wound to the arm. Both had been released from the hospital by Tuesday.

The station also reported seeing police exit the residence with a chainsaw that was placed into evidence.

Harper told reporters that the motive for the attack was unknown, but added that detectives were in the process of gathering information to determine why Pittman allegedly attacked his mother.

“It’s a very unfortunate incident when you look at it,” he said. “When you have anybody that is injured in that manner or seriously cut, that sounds like someone with a mental issue, for one. To do harm to your mom, you know? That’s your mom.”

Neighbor Tawain Crockett told New Orleans Fox affiliate WVUE that Monday’s incident was not the first time Pittman had been a source of trouble for the neighborhood.

“That’s crazy. It’s the same stuff you see on TV,” she told the station.

Pittman, who is also reportedly accused of attacking a 73-year-old at a bus station in 2023, is currently being held on bond totaling $300,000.

The post ‘The same stuff you see on TV’: Man severed his mom’s arm in chainsaw attack, hospitalized 2 officers, police say first appeared on Law & Crime .