Officer dragged by drunk suspect’s vehicle during traffic stop, say Victoria police

An officer is recovering from non-life threatening injuries after allegedly being dragged behind a drunk driver’s vehicle during a traffic stop on Wednesday morning.

According to Victoria police, a patrol officer pulled the suspect’s van over shortly after 3 a.m., when it turned the wrong way onto Pandora Avenue, a one-way street in the city’s downtown area.

The officer waited for backup after dispatchers told them the driver had previously been convicted of homicide, and had recently expressed a desire for a fatal encounter with law enforcement, according to a media release from the detachment.

When two officers spoke to the driver, they noticed “clear signs of intoxication,” according to police.

The driver tried to speed away, but one of the officers became “entangled” with the vehicle and was dragged for several metres, police said. The officer’s leg was injured in the process.

0:37 VPD release footage of distracted driver hitting stopped police car

Police, including the injured officer, pursued the suspect onto Cormorant Street, where the suspect crashed into a parked vehicle and a home. A patrol sergeant used their vehicle to pin the suspect’s van in place, police said.

Police allege the suspect then got out of his vehicle but refused to comply with officers, who had to use a taser and a bean bag gun at least twice before they were able to subdue and arrest him.

The suspect was not injured, and while the damage to the Cormorant Street house and its vehicle was extensive, the occupants of the house also unharmed.

Police said the officer who was dragged “will not be deployable” while they recover.

Investigators have not released the suspect’s identity, but said he failed a breathalyzer in jail.

He was handed a driving prohibition and released with conditions pending a future court date.