Youngstown, OH – A driver who dragged an Ohio state trooper with his car for approximately a mile during a pursuit has turned himself in to police following a statewide manhunt (video below).
The incident occurred at approximately 11:25 p.m. on Thursday, when Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Mike Miller spotted a Ford 500 without a headlight and pulled the driver over on Glenn Oak Drive, WKBN reported.
Trooper Miller approached the driver, later identified as 22-year-old Jamel Robert Patton, and asked him to step out of the vehicle.
Dashcam footage from a patrol vehicle at the scene showed Trooper Miller standing inside the open driver’s door of the suspect’s vehicle as Patton suddenly sped away.
The frantic trooper grasped the door and roof of the fleeing vehicle, and momentarily placed one of his feet inside the car in an attempt to brace himself, the video showed.
His partner, who was positioned on the passenger side of the suspect vehicle, raced back to the patrol car and began pursuing Patton as he dragged Trooper Miller down the roadway.
As the trooper caught up to the fleeing vehicle, Trooper Miller clung desperately to the open door as his feet raked across the pavement below him.
Patton suddenly braked, slowing down just enough for Trooper Miller to release his grip and fall to the ground, then the Ford 500 took off again.
The other trooper ran to help his fellow officer as he knelt in the middle of the roadway.
“You good, Mike? You good?” he asked.
“Go after him!” Trooper Miller yelled, motioning at the fleeing vehicle.
The trooper jumped back into his patrol vehicle to resume the pursuit, just as Patton’s taillights disappeared around a curve in the distance.
Patton managed to escape and a warrant was issued for his arrest for the offense of assault on a peace officer, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said in a Facebook post. They asked for the public’s assistance in locating him.
Patton, who has a lengthy criminal history, turned himself in at the Austintown Police Department at approximately 2 p.m. on Friday, WFMJ reported.
Trooper Miller sustained non-life threatening injuries to his back and shoulder, and was transported to a local hospital, the highway patrol said.
"He has some scrapes and bruises to his lower extremities, nothing life-threatening," Lieutenant Brad Bucey told WKBN.
He was treated and released from the hospital.
You can watch the harrowing bodycam footage in the video below:
