Cop Who Was Hit By His Own Police Car Shot Fleeing Suspect

HARVEY, IL - A man who stole a police car while he was being pursued by officers in Harvey after a crash was shot by an officer who officials have said feared for his life when the suspect hit him with his own cop car. Multiple police agencies responded to a chaotic scene near 148th Street and Dixie Highway in the southeast suburb late Wednesday afternoon. The officer suffered a foot injury and all three suspects in the incident have been arrested, according to media reports.

Two officers were around the block when they heard a crash and found two wrecked vehicles near the 148th and Dixie intersection, according to the report from the Chicago Tribune. When they responded, three of the occupants from one of the cars began to flee.

The officers split up, one pursuing the fleeing suspects and the other attending to the people in the other vehicle involved in the crash. The pursuing officer attempted to detain one of the suspects, but he escaped and entered the officer's vehicle.

The officer then fired his gun as the suspect attempted to run him over with the car, officers said. During the pursuit of the suspect who was now driving the Harvey police car, the police car ended up flipped over as the driver lost control. A Chicago Tribune photographer captured images from the scene here.

Some of the officers who later arrived at the scene found the cop car flipped over in a front yard, according to an ABC-7 account.

The wounded officer suffered a foot injury and is expected to be OK, while the suspect who was shot and wounded by the police officer is expected to survive.

The suspects, and related charges, weren't included in media reports as of Thursday morning.

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