An ex-felon with a history of attacking police has been arrested on suspicion of biting off the finger of a Minneapolis police officer on Tuesday evening.

Police would not confirm if the finger had been successfully reattached nor would they release the name of the injured officer, who was listed in good condition at Hennepin County Medical Center.

The 54-year-old suspect had been causing a commotion and breaking items in the 2400 block of 10th Avenue S. when a male and female officer responded to the residence at 5:45 p.m., said police and a witness, Lazeric Young.

The man attacked the officers immediately after they arrived, while other officers trained to deal with mentally ill people in crisis were on the way, said police inspector Michael Sullivan.

"His finger was bitten off," Young said of the officer, a 10-year law enforcement veteran.

Young, 25, of Cleveland, said he was visiting his father, whose door was mistakenly kicked in when other officers rushed to help the officers struggling with the man. Police then went upstairs where the suspect rented a room.

Several officers, using a Taser, subdued the man, who was taken to HCMC and later booked in the Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of first- and fourth-degree assault.

Minneapolis officers have had to physically subdue the man on prior calls, police said.

In 2010, the man, a former teacher, was convicted in Dakota County of disarming a police officer and sentenced to 20 months in prison.

Two counts of assaulting an officer were dismissed.

Joy Powell • 612-673-7750