By Police1 Staff
STAMFORD, Conn. — A patrol officer was critically injured Thursday after falling from a bridge abutment while chasing a robbery suspect.
Troy Strauser, 36, fell about 20 feet in the incident, and was taken to a Stamford area hospital to undergo surgery.
Police cruisers had converged on an area near an interstate in Stamford to respond to a report of two men beating and robbing another man, according to the Hartford Courant.
By the time police arrived, the suspects had fled, leaving a victim who required medical attention and was unable to speak. As police escorted an ambulance to the hospital, they spotted the white BMW wanted in connection with the crime.
Officers pursued the vehicle and deployed spike strips, which failed to end the chase. Moments later, the BMW crashed and a suspect fled on foot, running into woods at the end of a bridge near a highway abutment.
Strauser ran at full speed after the suspect and encountered shrubs that covered the abutment. He fell off the edge and landed face down, police said.
The suspect assaulted and choked a K-9 when he reached the other side of the highway and was arrested after a struggle.