EUSTIS, Fla. — Body camera video shows the moment a Eustis Police Department officer was dragged by a suspect in a traffic stop, WESH reported.
The incident began when the officer noticed the driver swerving on Aug. 1. The vehicle then turned onto a side road in an effort to evade, according to an arrest report.
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A second officer responded, and the officers located the driver, now speeding. The officers were able to stop the vehicle.
They then approached the vehicle, which had smoke coming from its hood.
Body camera video shows the man refusing to step out or turn off the car. As an officer attempted to forcibly remove him from the vehicle, he drove off.
One officer was knocked to the ground before getting up and pursuing the man in his vehicle.
The suspect then allegedly grabbed the other officer by her vest, the arrest report states. She was dragged more than 300 feet, stuck between the driver and the steering wheel before falling from the vehicle.
“She was pinned between the suspect and the steering wheel. As he drove off, she was able to break free after about 330 feet and fell to the ground,” Chief Craig Capri said. “Eight and nine seconds might seem like a quick time, but man, when you’re living it, it seems like hours.”
She was found by first responders lying motionless in the roadway.
A manhunt for the suspect ensued, but he was not located, WESH reported. He turned himself in after a warrant was issued for him. He has been charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, fleeing to elude, resisting an officer with violence and resisting an officer without violence.
