DPS officer assaulted, patrol car stolen near Casa Grande

The Associated Press Arizona Daily Star
October 26, 2010 2:35 pm

SACATON, Ariz. — The Department of Public Safety says one of its officers was assaulted and his patrol car stolen Tuesday afternoon north of Casa Grande near the Sacaton rest stop along westbound Interstate 10.

DPS spokesman Bart Graves tells The Associated Press the officer made a traffic stop at 12:30 p.m.

The officer was attempting to arrest the driver when a struggle ensued and the male suspect assaulted the officer and drove off in the officer’s patrol vehicle.

Units pursued the vehicle. Graves says the driver got off the freeway and drove into the desert. He later abandoned the patrol car about three-quarters of a mile east of I-10 near Casa Grande.

Authorities used helicopters and ground crews in their search of the desert for the driver described as a heavy set Hispanic.

Graves says the officer is OK.

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