A man bit off a "large chunk" of a suspect's nose during a fight early Wednesday after the man tried to steal a bicycle off a motor home, Anchorage police said.

Officers were called to the 1900 block of East Fourth Avenue, near Merrill Field, at 5:11 a.m. for a report of an assault, the agency said in a dispatch.

Police said a man and his wife were asleep in their motor home "when they woke up to the sound of someone on the roof."

The man walked outside to find a suspect, identified by police as 38-year-old Robert Moses Leroy Russell, on top of the motor home. Russell was trying to steal a bike off a bike rack, police said.

The man confronted Russell and a fight ensued. Russell punched the bike owner and "stabbed him with a small pointed instrument," police said.

"During the altercation, (Russell) bit the victim on the arm. The victim then leaned down and bit (Russell) on the face, removing a large chunk of his nose," police say.

The victim had puncture wounds to his legs and chest and several scratches. Both the victim and Russell were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.