Detroit Police Officer involved in crash, shooting

Editor’s note: The vehicle involved in the crash is a Hyundai Elantra, not a Honda.

"Pow! Pow! My fiancé went out to the store, and I went out to see about him. Then I saw all of the police, but then, saw the guy jump out and run," said Tonya Brooks who lives in the area.

At about 12:15 a.m. Friday on Detroit's east side,  an off duty police officer spotted two vehicles -  a white Dodge Charger and a black Hyundai Elantra. Both were going at a high rate of speed. One of the men was firing shots.

The off duty officer tried to stop the chase and gunfire, but his squad car was struck by the driver in the Hyundai at the corner of East Robinwood and Mound.

"So of course, the off duty officer gets out of the car, he looks around, the suspect gets out. He noticed the suspect is armed with a handgun. He points it at the officer. The officer is identifying himself as a Detroit Police officer. He's off duty. He has his badge around his neck," said Chief James Craig of the Detroit Police Department.

“He directs the suspect to drop his weapon. The suspect doesn’t, he fires two shots. At which time, the suspect just takes off and starts running.”

“They had the dogs and the helicopter, and they were saying stop, stop," said Brooks.

"He runs a short distance an broke into a parked vehicle trying to conceal himself. A neighbor called and said he see someone in a car, our officer respond. He sees the officer responding, he gets out, runs a short distance, and then he's arrested by our TRU unit. He's taken into custody without incident," said Craig.

Sources tell Fox 2 the suspect arrested Friday morning is a 23-year-old man from Detroit. We did not have any luck contacting his family, but the Chief says he does not have a violent criminal history.

"Some minor offenses - but no crimes of violence. Again, we don't know what transpired prior to contacting our officer," said Craig.”

The officer is a 10 year veteran who works with the gang units for the Detroit Police Department. .

He was not hit by the two gun shots fired at him, and fortunately he only suffered some minor injuries from the crash.

The Chief and the community also addressed the concern of recent attacks on police officers in the City of Detroit.

"That's unacceptable. And it needs to stop. You know, serve and protect, said Brooks. ”That's what they do."

At this time, Detroit Police are not seeking to arrest anyone else in this incident, but would like to speak with the driver of the white dodge charger.

The suspect remains in custody waiting to be arraigned.