Man arrested after hitting Woodbury police officer with car, fleeing police
WOODBURY, Minn. -- A 42-year-old man is in jail after he allegedly hit an east metro police officer with his car early Thursday morning.
The Woodbury Police Department says officers were dispatched to the Extended Stay at 10020 Hudson Road around 1:30 a.m. on a report of a man slumped over in the driver's seat of a car in the parking lot.
Officers woke the man up, who they say appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance. He allegedly gave the officers a fake name before putting his car in reverse, backing up quickly and hitting an officer.
The man then put his vehicle in drive and accelerated rapidly, allegedly hitting a squad car and nearly running over the officer before fleeing the scene.
The police officer hit was injured, but not hospitalized, WPD says.
Hours later, Woodbury police located the suspect vehicle and attempted a traffic stop. Once again, the driver fled. Eventually, police located the vehicle in Minneapolis thanks to resident bystanders who pointed out the suspect's direction of travel.
Officers booked the man into custody at the Washington County Jail.
WCCO does not usually name suspects until they are formally charged.