A Pentagon police officer is in serious condition at Fairfax Hospital after a car-jacker reportedly ran him down in an attempt to escape.
Officer James Feltis, 41, a 10-year veteran of the Pentagon Police Force, was hit as he tried to apprehend a 22-year-old suspect Tuesday, Jan. 11. The suspect is now in custody on robbery charges, according to Alexandria police reports.
The chase began only minutes prior when, Alexandria police report, the suspect allegedly attacked a man in the parking lot of a McDonald's and stole his 2002 Cadillac.
Alexandria police, state troopers and a Fairfax County police helicopter pursued the suspect through Del Ray into South Arlington and eventually to Pentagon's parking lot. According to Pentagon spokesman Gerald Flood, the suspect entered the lot through an exit gate and stopped.
"He came in through the wrong way and that's what kept police from following him," Flood said. "They went around to enter the right way but there is usually an officer stationed at that exit to monitor traffic. They are used to seeing people drive through the wrong gate."
FELTIS RAN toward the car but, realizing he was trapped, the suspect accelerated, hitting the officer as he sped out the lot's entrance.
Pentagon police caught up to the suspect moments later on I-395. Barreling toward an exit ramp that leads to Washington Boulevard, police rammed the suspect off the road and forced him to stop.
As officers converged on the car to drag him out, a struggle ensued and the suspect was shot in the leg, according to police reports. His injuries are not life-threatening, according to the reports.
ARLINGTON POLICE are leading the investigation into just how the shooting occurred. The bullet that struck the suspect, department spokesman Matt Martin said, came from a police issue pistol.
"He may have tried to take the gun away from one of the officers during the struggle," Martin said. "We think the suspect had his hand on the gun and it went off when the officer tried to wrestle it away from him."
Police are not releasing the suspects name pending verification of his identity by the FBI.