The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division launched an investigation after a suspect suffered what could be a potentially critical injury while trying to flee an arrest in Oxon Hill on Thursday.
A patrol officer pulled over a car with expired tags at approximately 5:35 pm in the 4700 block of Wheeler Road. The suspect was driving the car with a young child inside. During the stop, the officer called for backup when the driver repeatedly reached for the center console despite the officer’s repeated commands to the driver to place his hands on the steering wheel.
The officer called for backup and returned to his vehicle to wait for the backup.
When two additional officers arrived, the driver was asked to exit the vehicle and was placed into handcuffs for officer safety. He was then escorted away from his vehicle. The child was then turned over to another adult who arrived on the scene. As officers attempted to search the suspect and complete the arrest, the suspect began to strike one of the officers and attempted to escape. In order to prevent the suspect from striking the officer again, and to prevent him from escaping, the officer grabbed the suspect’s arm as he was fleeing. The suspect fell to ground landing on the roadway. He complained of pain and an ambulance was called immediately. He has since undergone surgery and is in stable condition
During a search of the car, a knife was located in the center console. Approximately 30 grams of marijuana were recovered.
The officer who made the initial stop did record a portion of the traffic stop on his cruiser’s dash camera. Because the suspect was about to be placed into a cruiser, he was out of the dash camera’s view when he attempted to flee and was injured.
The involved officer is on routine administrative leave.