Man charged with assault after officer was hit by car

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/man-charged-with-driving-into-police-officer/2015/12/21/a109ac18-a83d-11e5-9b92-dea7cd4b1a4d_story.html

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A Gaithersburg man was charged with assault and reckless endangerment in an incident in which a police officer was struck by a car, Montgomery County police said Monday.

The officer who was injured, identified as Patrick McCarthy, has been released from the hospital after being injured in the Dec. 9 crash, police said.

The suspect was identified by police as Lynnard Slaughter, 32, of Granchester Place.

Police said that an officer turned on his emergency lights to pull a car over at 1:09 a.m. to investigate whether its driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. But the motorist kept driving for several minutes, until he pulled into a driveway.

There, officers walked up to the car. It went into reverse and accelerated, hitting McCarthy, police said.

In the collision, McCarthy fired his gun but did not hit anyone, police said. Since he fired his gun, he will be on paid administrative leave until the investigation is finished.

Police said that after hitting McCarthy, the car continued on, until it crashed. They said they followed the driver on foot.