Suspect rams Arizona deputy’s patrol car, arrested hours later
Sep 13, 2018, 7:09 AM | Updated: 1:35 pm
PHOENIX — A deputy with the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office is recovering from injuries he suffered after a suspect in a traffic stop rammed the patrol car just as the officer got back inside.
Authorities said the deputy had pulled over suspect Charles Butler, 21, a little after midnight Wednesday in a neighborhood off the Hunt Highway in Coolidge because the black sedan he was driving was possibly connected to a burglary at a fast-food restaurant.
The department posted dashcam video of the confrontation on Facebook.
Charles Butler (PCSO Photo)
After the car came to a stop, the deputy asked the driver to turn off the engine and step out of the car. The young man got out of the car and raised his hands. As the deputy approached, the driver got back into the car. The deputy ran to the driver’s side and reached into the car through the open window to shut down the motor.
As the car began to pull away, the officer let go of the door and ran back to his patrol vehicle.
The driver made a U-turn, rolling up a sidewalk. He then got back on the street and with headlights glaring, drove in the direction of the officer, who made it inside before impact.
The maneuver left the car too damaged to restart and the suspect ran away. He allegedly stole a car from a house. The owner had called 911 to report the missing car and told officers her son believed someone had been in their house. She said her rifle was also missing.
Butler hid for hours before he was arrested around 7:30 a.m. at a bus stop surrounded by children.
He was also suspected of selling the rifle to a man to buy drugs. The second man also was taken into custody as was a passenger in the car with the second man.
