Philadelphia officer injured in hit-and-run in Feltonville, police say
A Philadelphia police officer was injured after a hit-and-run in the Feltonville section of the city Tuesday night, police said.
The incident happened at Front Street and Hunting Park Avenue around 9:30 p.m., Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
Two police officers in a marked SUV were stopped in traffic when one of the officers got out of the vehicle and approached the car in front of them, which the officers had identified as a stolen Honda Civic, Small said. The male driver of the Civic backed up, hitting the police vehicle, then turned right, when he struck the officer who had gotten out of the SUV, causing the officer to roll onto the hood, Small said. The driver of the Civic then took off southbound on Front Street, and the officer rolled onto the street. The officer who was struck has "bumps and bruises" from being hit and falling into the street but is in stable condition and good spirits at Temple University Hospital, according to Small.
Police found the Civic unoccupied a few miles away at Ruscomb and Warncock streets, and police are looking for the male driver and the female passenger who were in it at the time of the crash. The car was stolen on Sunday in an armed carjacking in Northeast Philadelphia, Small said.
The officer who was struck is a four-year veteran of the department in his late 20s, Small said.
Police have recovered the stolen Civic and are checking it for evidence. While speeding away, that vehicle also struck a Mazda driven by a civilian. That civilian was shaken up but not injured, Small said.
