Car Found that Hit Police Officer Outside Chevy Chase Shops

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A car used to strike an off-duty Montgomery County Police officer in an upscale Chevy Chase shopping area was found abandoned in Northeast Washington, D.C., Wednesday morning.

The 30-year-old officer – whose name has not been released by authorities – was treated and released from a local hospital Tuesday for bruises to his arms and legs and a concussion. Police continue to search for the driver responsible for the assault.

BethesdaNow reports the officer was working security at The Collection at Chevy Chase, a block of shops nicknamed the Rodeo Drive of the East Coast. Boutiques in the block include Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Jimmy Choo. The expensive retail offerings make the block a target for thieves, the website says.

The officer was parked in his marked cruiser just before 5 p.m. Tuesday when a store security guard told him someone had concerns about a suspicious Acura parked on South Park Avenue.

The officer located the Acura parked near Wisconsin Avenue with only the driver in the vehicle. Police say the officer believed the vehicle was not parked in a legal parking spot and that the tags were improperly displayed. After the vehicle stopped at the red light to turn south onto Wisconsin Avenue the officer walked up to the driver’s window and put his hand on the roof.

Police say the Acura’s driver looked at the officer, turned the vehicle wheel toward him and then accelerated and struck the officer. The officer fell on the roadway as the car sped off.

The vehicle was found Wednesday morning in Northeast Washington, D.C., by the Metropolitan Police Department, which had received a call for a suspicious vehicle.

The injured officer has worked for the department for about eight years.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Montgomery County Police Department at 240-773-6710.