Two charged after RCMP officer dragged by SUV, pinned against cruiser
Mountie was responding to report of possible impaired driver in parking lot in Chester
A man and woman are facing charges after a Lunenburg District RCMP officer was dragged by a vehicle and injured as he was investigating a suspected impaired driving case.
According to a police news release, the officer stopped an SUV in a parking lot on Highway 3 in Chester, N.S., on Monday morning.
After speaking to the driver, the Mountie was leaning into the driver's-side window in an attempt to remove the keys from the ignition when the driver accelerated and drove away, an RCMP spokesperson said.
The officer was briefly dragged and pinned against the police cruiser parked in front of the SUV, the spokesperson said.
The officer sustained minor injuries and was examined by paramedics at the scene.
While fleeing the area, the SUV sideswiped a vehicle and later crashed into a guardrail when it failed to negotiate a turn from Highway 14 onto Highway 103.
The two occupants were arrested shortly after while trying to escape on foot. The RCMP spokesperson said they received medical attention but the extent of their injuries wasn't known.
The driver, a 37-year-old man from Stonehurst, N.S., was charged with five offences, including assault of a peace officer with a weapon, resisting arrest and flight from a peace officer.
The passenger, a 26-year-old woman from Lunenburg, was charged with resisting arrest.
Both were held in custody pending their appearance in Bridgewater provincial court on Tuesday.
