SAUGUS, Mass. (AP) — Three Massachusetts police officers conducting a stolen vehicle investigation Thursday morning were stabbed or slashed by the suspect but are expected to be OK, authorities said.

The Saugus officers responded to a home in town at about 7:30 a.m. to investigate a report of a U-Haul rental vehicle that had not been returned, according to a statement from Chief Michael Ricciardelli.

The suspect, identified as Steven Sossong, 43, refused to leave the home so the officers entered, according to the statement. There was an altercation and the officers were injured.

The injuries were to the officer's “extremities," Assistant Chief Ron Giorgetti said.

The officers were brought to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston with non-life threatening injuries. A fourth Saugus officer was transported to the hospital for precautionary reasons, state police said in a statement.

Sossong faces four counts each of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a police officer. He was also taken to the hospital.

A judge sent Sossong for a mental health evaluation at a psychiatric hospital after a mental health professional said his answers to her questions did not make sense.