An off-duty uniformed county police officer shot two women while being dragged by their car in an attempt to escape the scene after an alleged shoplifting at Rugged Wearhouse Friday afternoon.
At about 5:30 p.m., the Prince George's County officer, who was working part-time as a Rugged Wearhouse security guard, observed two women he believed to be shoplifting. He followed them to their car in the College Park Shopping Center parking lot, where he confronted them, said Lt. Tammy Sparkman, a spokeswoman for Prince George's County Police.
The situation escalated as the officer reached inside the driver's side window of the green sedan and one of the women rolled up the window, trapping the officer's arm, Sparkman said. The driver pulled out of the space, dragging the officer along as the two suspects tried to flee the scene.
Sparkman said the officer struggled to gain control of the vehicle by grabbing the steering wheel. As he was being dragged, he managed to pull out his gun and aim it inside the car.
Shots fired.
Saed Alaei, a graduate student studying computer science, was in his car when the event unfolded. The officer fired three shots into the car, he said, then a window smashed as the man fell onto the pavement.
Then, the vehicle veered, striking a silver Toyota Rav4, Alaei said. After the crash, one of the women got out of the car and lay on the ground.
Sparkman said both women were hit by the gunshots.
Witnesses spotted blood stains on the passenger seat of the car.
Senior journalism major Lianna Donovan was walking out of CVS with a friend when they saw the sedan had crashed into the Rav4 she had borrowed from her roommate. She saw a man lying on the ground calling for police officers who were arriving on the scene.
"When I saw him, I thought, ‘Maybe I should back away,'" Donovan said.
At least 20 emergency vehicles had surrounded the shopping center by 5:45 p.m. The county police officer and the two female suspects were taken to local hospitals where they are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Sparkman said.
The suspects were driving a Chevy Impala with Virginia license plates.
No suspect descriptions were available Friday night, including whether or not they were students.
Police marked off the area with caution tape and closed several businesses on the block temporarily, including Boston Market, Noodles & Company and Rugged Wearhouse.
Whether the women were shoplifting is still under investigation, Sparkman said.
Though University Police officers were on the scene, spokesman Paul Dillon had no comment except to say county police were handling the investigation.
Staff writer Kara Estelle contributed to this report. kgoon at umdbk dot com, rhodes at umdbk dot com
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Criminals are criminals, and there is n doubt about the identity of these.
Although I do not agree with @Andrew. Since when is College Park, Md constitute as being Ghetto? And please do not start generalizing the whole county as ghetto. Just because there are parts of the county that can be considered ghetto does not mean the entire county is ghetto. Prince George's county is, if not the, one of the top wealthiest African-American counties in the nation. Check your own comments before criticizing others.
that was a dumb way for me to say that. Here's what I should have said-idk know if anything was stolen, but if the security guard confronts you outside, you probably shouldnt roll up the window on his arm and drive away.-the cop shot them instead of just shooting himself free, and this is inexcusable. I hope his status as a policeman doesnt get him off. but I also hope he gets a fair trial and a jury that examines the facts objectively, not a bunch of inexperienced college kids who think it's trendy to shit on the police. They're not always great but they do an important job in our community. So that is what I think and if you want to sure we can sing Kumbaya. Thank you for being understanding.
I guess you are the bleeding heart referred to below. maybe you can counsel the local thugs and show them the error of their ways. Wrap it up with a few verses of Kyumbayah.
They were men dressed as women!
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