OPP off-duty officer dragged while attempting to stop vehicle near Cobourg

OPP are searching for four men after an off-duty officer was dragged while attempting to stop a vehicle just north of Cobourg on Wednesday evening.

Northumberland OPP say around 5:30 p.m., the officer was travelling on Hircock Road in the hamlet of Baltimore in Hamilton Township (about five kilometres outside Cobourg) when he noticed a suspicious vehicle in the driveway of a residence known to him.

“The officer then observed four males run out from behind the residence and enter a white Cadillac parked in the driveway,” police stated. “He approached the driver and identified himself as a police officer.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The officer then observed four males run out from behind the residence and enter a white Cadillac parked in the driveway," police stated. "He approached the driver and identified himself as a police officer."

OPP say the driver refused to comply with the officer’s demand to shut off the engine and place the vehicle in park as the officer attempted to gain control of the man. Police allege the vehicle then accelerated.

The car was last seen fleeing northbound on Nagle Road.

The officer suffered minor injuries not requiring medical treatment, police said.

Police discovered a trailer in the backyard of the home had been broken into and ransacked. The homeowner was home at the time and said no items appear to have been taken.

The suspect vehicle is described as an older four-door white Cadillac with an Ontario licence plate ending in the numbers 740. The driver is described as having a light brown, clean -haven, 18-20 years old, wearing a red baseball cap, red hooded sweat top and jeans.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Cobourg OPP detachment at 905-372-5421 or toll free 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).