Dunwoody (WGCL)—A Dunwoody police officer is recovering and a suspect is behind bars after a wild ride.
It started like any normal traffic stop.
“The driver was operating a handheld device in violation of the Georgia hands-free law,” Sergeant Robert Parsons said.
Moments later everything changed. The driver puts the car in gear and takes off. Dunwoody Police Officer Nathan Daley jumped on the car and reaches inside to stop it. Instead, he winds up trapped and the driver speeds towards I-285.
“On the entrance ramp to 285 officer Daley’s body struck another vehicle as Mr. Simpson passed vehicles that was stopped on the entrance ramp,” Parson explained.
Here’s where things became even more dangerous.
“Mr. Simpson swerved to the left striking a white van with officer Daley’s body in-between,” Parson told CBS46 News.
Officer Daley fell to the pavement in front of traffic. The driver, who police say is Derric Simpson, refused to stop. Moments later he crashes, then hops out the vehicle before being caught and arrested by Dunwoody police.
Simpson is charged with aggravated assault on a police officer and aggravated battery.
Florida Man Caught Dragging a Deputy With His Car
In a similar incident last month, a Florida driver is facing a charge of attempted murder after body camera and dashcam video showed him dragging a sheriff’s deputy with his car during a traffic stop.
Rocky Rudolph, 38, of Apopka, Florida, was pulled over by Seminole County Sheriff’s Deputy Aaron Blais on Saturday, June 29.
The body camera footage released by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office Sunday shows the deputy and the driver having a calm, friendly interaction in the first few minutes of the traffic stop after Blais tells Rudolph he pulled him over for having tinted windows. The two men even joke with each other about the suspect’s unusual name.
But things turn sour when Blais asks Rudolph if he has any marijuana in the vehicle before telling him to turn off his vehicle.
Instead, Rudolph throws the car in drive as the deputy hangs out of the window screaming for the driver to stop.
Rudolph briefly stops and Blais points a gun at him ordering him to stop the car before Rudolph pulls off again toward a highway.
Dashcam video shows the deputy fall off of the vehicle as it speeds away.
The sheriff’s office searched for Rudolph following the incident and he was taken into custody shortly before 4:30 p.m., the department said.
Blais was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released from the hospital on the same day, according to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.
Rudolph is being held without bond in Seminole County Jail on charges of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, and resisting an officer with violence, according to the county jail roster.
