One officer could be seeing flying through the air from the impact. He was taken to a local hospital where he is listed in serious condition.
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Yahner said the vehicle hit two of the officers, collided into a police auto and crashed into a store, in a moment caught on surveillance video.
All three officers survived the crash, but one was left with a broken leg.
A judge has ordered Marc LaQuon Payne to stay behind bars on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal damage and resisting arrest. Police say the driver’s impairment may have been a factor.
Surveillance video from the QuikTrip gas station near 25th Avenue and Camelback Road shows the red vehicle turning around and deliberately driving into the trio of officers standing outside the store, KSAZ-TV reported. About 1:45 a.m. Tuesday, Payne drove an Altima into the QuikTrip, a busy gas station just off the Interstate 17 highway in central Phoenix.
A red sedan barreled toward the officers across the parking lot, slamming into two of them and smashing into the front of the store.
“This is a violent, cowardly act on our police officers and it’s simply unacceptable”, he said. The auto crashed into the convenience store, causing extensive damage. Despite his head injury, the second officer who was thrown over the hood of the auto, engages the defendant with a taser as well.
The video shows the rookie officer thrown several feet in the air and hitting the glass window of the QuikTrip. A third police officer was able to escape injury, but suffered minor wounds following a struggle with the suspect. Suddenly, the driver accelerates heading straight for the three policemen which included an 8-year veteran, a sergeant with more than 18 years experience, and a police officer who had just completed field training and was on his first official shift.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before”, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said Wednesday. An officer who managed to evade the crash ran up to the auto and pulled the driver out. “[The suspect] runs over us and then he still fights with us as we’re trying to take him into custody”.
The suspect, Marc Laquon-Payne, is now facing multiple charges.
“They were very thankful that God was watching them and they’re OK”, Yahner said.
As of July 20, 67 officers had died in the line of duty, up from 62 a year ago. “When someone targets a police officer, it places the entire community at risk”.
The number of law enforcement officers killed via ambush has dramatically increased this year, according to a July report by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. This happened in Phoenix.
The officers were standing next to a marked police vehicle when Payne sped at the officers.
A judge has ordered Payne held without bond.
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“At this time, we vehemently deny knowledge of this person”, the Rev. Reginald Walton told the news station.
