An RCMP officer was treated for injuries after being dragged about 15 feet by a car driven by an alleged parole violator trying to escape arrest late Thursday afternoon.
Jamie Malcolm Stagg, 29, a resident of the Westbridge halfway house in Stephenville, was being pursued by police because of an alleged parole violation.
He ran off after two RCMP officers tried to arrest him. Police say as Stagg got in his Toyota Corolla, an officer grabbed him through an open door. They say he backed up and knocked the officer down, and she was pinned under the open door. She was dragged about 15 feet with the car in reverse until the vehicle changed direction and sped away.
Not long after, the vehicle was found on the Stephenville Dump Road, and with help from police dogs the suspect was arrested in a wooded area near a water reservoir compound.
Along with the parole violation, Stagg will be charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, flight from police and escaping lawful custody.
He appeared in provincial court in Stephenville on Friday.
Stagg was on parole after serving time in jail for an armed robbery.
Sgt. Wayne Newell of the RCMP said the injured officer has extensive bruising. She was released from hospital Thursday night.
Newell said it’s not the first time something like this has happened, though he acknowledged such incidents are fairly uncommon.
“It speaks to the dangers we could face in our everyday duties and the types of things we could be faced with in a moment’s notice,” he said.