A San Diego Police motorcycle officer suffered minor injuries Thursday when a driver deliberately ran him down with a car during a traffic stop in Mira Mesa.
The officer pulled over a black Chrysler sedan shortly before 10:10 a.m. near the intersection of Westview Parkway and Black Mountain Road, and the driver backed up and struck him before taking off northbound on Black Mountain Road, Officer Tony Martinez said.
As the officer gave chase, the driver pulled to a stop in a traffic lane, then accelerated in reverse, sending the sedan crashing into the motorcycle, according to Lt. Andra Brown.
Following the impact, the motorist continued backing up, pushing the downed motorcycle along the street with the officer pinned underneath it, Brown said. The driver, who had a female passenger riding with him, then fled to the north.
The patrolman, whose name was not released, was treated at a hospital and released later. He has been with the SDPD for 13 years and been assigned to the department’s Traffic Division Motorcycle Unit for more than five years.
Homicide detectives were called to the scene to take charge of the case because the hit-and-run crash was being investigated as an attempted murder, Brown said.
The sedan had an Arizona license plate starting with the letters “FTA”
Police did not disclose why the officer pulled over the motorist in the first place.
Anyone with information on the case was asked to call the SDPD Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
City News Service contributed to this article.