SEPTA officer sucker-punched while trying to break up a fight on Market-Frankford Line

SEPTA transit police are searching for a man who they say sucker-punched an officer from behind as he tried to break up a fight on the Market-Frankford Line Thursday.

The officer, a 24-year veteran of the force, was on the 46 Street platform around 3:30 p.m. when he heard a group of teenaged girls fighting at street level, SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch said. When the officer tried to break up the fight, Busch said, a man punched him from behind. The man fled immediately, he said. Detectives are still searching for him.

The officer suffered a cut to his right ear and is in good condition, Busch said.

- Aubrey Whelan