Maryland: 2 officers hurt in separate incidents involving vehicles
In the first incident police have named a suspect who is now wanted on a charge of attempted second degree murder as well as several other charges.
It happened around 5:40 p.m. Wednesday in the Ritchie Manor neighborhood of District Heights.
Everything started on Todd Drive. Police say two officers were patrolling a neighborhood that had been having an increase in home break-ins when they saw a man who had been arrested on July 4 on a possession with intent to distribute charge. Danny Lee Harvel, 26, of Temple Hills, was sitting in a car but didn't live in the neighborhood, police say.
When one of the officers approached Harvell, police say he wouldn't answer questions and refused to show identification. As the officer opened the car door, Harvell slammed it shut. The officer reached in the window trying to detain the man, police say he drove off with the officer's arm entangled in the automatic seatbelt.
Harvell drove about 100 yards with the officer hanging from the side of the car and crashed into a tree. The officer was thrown to the ground and Harvell ran away, police say. The officer tried to chase him but his leg was broken.
"The suspect failed to stop for the officer, and endangered the officer and potentially someone else's life by doing what he did," said Cpl. Maria McKinney with the Prince George's County Police Department.
Police say a massive hunt is underway and police along the East Coast have been alerted.
The officer, a 4-year PGPD veteran, is in the hospital and may need surgery, police say.
The second incident happened about 8 miles away at a BP gas station on Wheeler Road in Oxon Hill.
Police say an officer approached a suspect who was in a stolen car in the parking lot. They say the suspect accelerated and hit the officer, flipping him onto the hood.
Police say the officer's injuries were minor and he was treated and released at a hospital.
Police describe the suspect's car as a gold 2008 Subaru Outback with DC tag DT2586.