The SLO County Library is asking for a restraining order against a man allegedly who attacked and bit one of its employees earlier this month.

According to court records, a SLO County Superior Court judge has already granted a temporary restraining order against the man, identified as 60-year-old Dirk Daniel Anderson. The petition for a workplace violence restraining order, filed by SLO County Deputy Counsel Susan Hoffman on Nov. 13, alleges that Anderson attacked and threatened a male librarian during a confrontation Nov. 2 at the library on Palm Street in SLO.

According to a written statement from the librarian, the confrontation began after Anderson, described as a transient and known patron at the library, approached him shouting about noise in the library. The librarian asked Anderson to leave, and escorted him outside the building.  

“While I walked him out of the building, [Anderson] continued to yell and scream profanity and also taunt me as if he wanted to fight me,” the librarian wrote. 

When he turned to walk back inside, Anderson allegedly spit on the back of his head. The librarian turned back around and said he saw Anderson coming at him in a threatening manner. The librarian said he grabbed both Anderson’s arms when he got too close and that Anderson “grunted and growled” and attempted to bite him. According to the petition, Anderson was able to bite him on the palm and the back of his right hand before being wrestled to the ground, where he was held until SLO police officers arrived on the scene. 

The petition also included corroborating reports by other library employees who said they witnessed the incident; one report stated that Anderson threatened the librarian’s life. The librarian was later treated for his wounds at Sierra Vista Hospital.

Arrest records show that Anderson was arrested on Nov. 2, the date of the alleged attack. He is no longer listed as in custody in SLO County Jail, according to the SLO County Sheriff’s website.