GAITHERSBURG, Md. — A Montgomery County police officer is expected to recover after being hit by a car in a quiet Gaithersburg neighborhood.
Captain Paul Starks says early Wednesday morning officers began following a driver they believed was driving under the influence on Midcounty Highway in Montgomery Village.
Despite several attempts by officers, Starks says the driver wouldn’t pull over.
Eventually the driver pulled into a driveway, in a cul de sac on Grantchester Place. Police ordered the man out of the car. Instead, he drove toward the officer, striking him.
An officer fired one shot, hitting the car.
Starks says the suspect drove through at least one backyard before returning to the street and leaving the neighborhood, with police following.
The chase ended nearby, at Victory Farm Drive and Girard Street, when the suspect’s car hit a pole. He fled on foot, and was taken into custody.
The officer and suspect have been taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Starks says the suspect is expected to be charged with driving under the influence and for assaulting the officer.
This is the second time in a week that a county officer was struck by a car. A 24-year-old Montgomery County police officer is still hospitalized in critical condition after he was hit by a car during a traffic stop last Thursday on Rockville Pike.
Noah Leotta was working as a member of the department’s holiday alcohol task force and was in the middle of a traffic stop when he was hit about 9:45 p.m. near Edmonston Drive.
Police say Luis Reluzco, 47, of Olney, who was driving north on Rockville Pike, hit Leotta’s parked squad car and then Leotta, who was outside the car at the time.
