A police officer in Fairfax County, investigating a stolen vehicle at the Fair Oaks mall, had his own cruiser stolen by one of the suspects who then crashed into another police cruiser, authorities in the Virginia county said.
Two officers suffered minor injuries in the crash as did the suspect. All three were taken to the hospital.
The incident began unfolding about 11:35 a.m. when an officer located a vehicle at the shopping mall that had been reported stolen out of Maryland, Sgt. Jacob Pearce told reporters at a news conference Friday.
The officer “made contact” with the three people inside, when one of them — a passenger — hopped out of that car and into the officer’s cruiser, Pearce said.
The man took off and officers quickly followed the man, touching off a brief pursuit that ended when he crashed into another police cruiser on Federalist Way near Government Center Parkway, Pearce said.
He didn’t say what caused the crash or whether it was the result of a police maneuver.
Inside the original vehicle, police found suspected stolen merchandise and narcotics, he said.
“All three suspects are from out of this jurisdiction and came here to Fairfax County to commit crimes,” Pearce said.
Police haven’t yet publicly named the suspects.
Below is the area where it happened.
WTOP’s Veronica Canales contributed to this report.
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