VIDEO: Burglary Suspect Tried to Gouge Out FL Officer's Eyes in Life-and-Death Struggle

A Bradenton, FL, police officer is sharing his horrifying account after a burglar tried to gouge his eyes out.

It was an attack caught on surveillance cameras. The complete video can be seen here.

Lt. William Weldon’s injuries are still quite evident. His eyes are bloodshot and there are dark marks above his cheeks. The man is lucky he still has his vision after a vicious attack.

Early Sunday morning, Weldon responded to a tripped alarm at a jewelry store when he encountered a burglary suspect, 23-year-old Issac Dubon.

“He wouldn’t comply, but I could see that he didn’t have anything in his hands, so he was unarmed at the moment that I saw, so I wasn’t going to fire on an unarmed man, so I put my handgun, weapon away,” described Lt. Weldon.

But instead, Dubon fought back and during the long struggle, he attempted to gouge Weldon’s eyes and steal his gun.

Weldon pistol whipped Dubon, and the suspect was taken into custody as backup officers arrived.

Dubon is an illegal immigrant from Honduras. He has no prior criminal record, but he’s now a suspect in a number of other crimes in the area. The federal government has detained him at the Manatee County Jail, WFLA TV reports.