By John Tuohy
Indianapolis Star
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Police arrested a 27-year-old man Tuesday they said fired an AK-47 assault-style rifle at a patrol officer on the Eastside.
Cedric Tharpe, Indianapolis, faces preliminary charges of attempted conspiracy to commit murder; criminal recklessness with a weapon and pointing a firearm. Police said Tharpe has several prior arrests for narcotics and gun charges.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Matthew Churchman was not injured in the shooting but his squad car was peppered with bullets and a debris fragment struck him, according to IMPD Sgt. Paul Thompson.
Churchman had rushed to the 2400 block of North Dearborn Street to answer a call of shots being fired in the area at 11 p.m. The officer saw a GMC sport utility vehicle parked in an alley with its lights off and approached it. As he did, a man walked toward the SUV. Churchman told him to stop and raise his hands. Instead the man fired the rifle at Churchman, Thompson said.
Churchman fired back as the man put the SUV in reverse and sped down the alley. The AK-47 was thrown from the SUV as it backed away. The car then hit a pole and stopped and the man jumped out and ran away.
Two minutes later, a man approached Churchman and said he had been shot at, Thompson said. But Churchman concluded that he was the person who had shot at him and arrested the man.
Copyright 2009 Indianapolis Star