INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Three Police Officers ‘Targeted’, Run Over In Phoenix As Driver Guns Car In Their Direction [Video]

By Shayla D
Published on: 10:52 PST, Sep 13, 2016

Three Phoenix police officers were run over early this morning as a driver deliberately drove into them. Surveillance footage from the store’s video cameras show the police officers standing in front of a QuikTrip convenience store at approximately 2 a.m. next to a squad car. Another camera angle shows the driver of the car pulling up to a gas pump before backing into another area of the parking lot and shining his headlights on the officers. Suddenly, the driver accelerates heading straight for the three policemen which included an 8-year veteran, a sergeant with more than 18 years experience, and a police officer who had just completed field training and was on his first official shift.

All three officers are expected to survive the attack. The sergeant reportedly suffered a broken leg, and the rookie remains hospitalized after the force of the car threw him into the air and through the window of the Quiktrip. The third officer was able to leap out of the way at the last moment, however, he suffered minor injuries in a scuffle with the driver as the perpetrator continued to fight with the police after running them over. Miraculously the rookie officer, despite his injuries, also joined in to secure the suspect whom officers wrestled with before eventually tasing.

Pictures from the scene show the police car, which had been parked in front of the convenience store, damaged and pushed askew from its parking space from the impact of the attacking car. The car which was used to run over the police officers appears to have significant front end damage and is sitting in the shattered entrance of the Quiktrip.

According to local Phoenix news affiliate KTVK Channel 3, Phoenix police Chief Joseph Yahner stated in a press conference that investigators have determined through the video and eyewitness accounts that the act was a deliberate attack on the police officers. Yahner’s anger and frustration over the deliberate attack was apparent as he addressed the media.

“I am outraged by this incident,” Chief Yahner said. “Our Phoenix police officers were targeted. We have all heard about officers being targeted and ambushed across this nation. But this happened here. This happened in Phoenix. This happened to your Phoenix police officers.”

The suspect in the incident was identified as 44-year-old Marc LaQuon Payne. A review of Maricopa County court records shows a prior arrest and conviction for Payne for three counts of aggravated assault back in 1997. For his actions today, Phoenix police chief Joseph Yahner stated Payne will be charged with three counts of attempted murder for the attack on the police officers and two counts of aggravated assault on behalf of the two convenience store clerks who were narrowly missed by the vehicle.

The attack on the Phoenix police officers is one of a growing number of ambushes on law enforcement. As previously reported by Inquisitr, police officers suffered multiple casualties in Baton Rouge and an ambush on police providing security for a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas.

In a statement released by Phoenix police Chief Yahner on the City of Phoenix Police Facebook, he addressed the growing animosity toward police officers:

“We are living in uncertain times, and this is yet another reminder of how important it is to stay vigilant, and to watch out for one another,” Yahner said.

https://www.facebook.com/phoenixazpolice/videos/1138169649591614/

In May, Phoenix Police were not so lucky when police officer David Glasser was shot to death on patrol. Despite today’s attack on the Phoenix officers, Yahner, who refused to use the name of the suspect during today’s press conference, took a moment to have gratitude for the outcome, “These officers could have easily been killed, and I thank God we’re not planning three funerals right now.”

[Image by Alex Schmidt/Istock/Getty Images]

Share this article: Three Police Officers ‘Targeted’, Run Over In Phoenix As Driver Guns Car In Their Direction [Video]
More from Inquisitr