A suspect who ran from a police SWAT team was shot in Southwest Baltimore Monday afternoon.
The incident began at 12:40 p.m., when SWAT team officers were on patrol on Westwood Avenue in Baltimore. They noticed a driver slouched down in a white Chrysler New Yorker, apparently trying to avoid the police, said Agent Donny Moses, a city police spokesman.
“The driver was slouched down in a suspicious manner as if he didn’t want to be seen,” Moses said.
The SWAT team members began to turn their vehicle around to question the driver of the Chrysler, where the man drove off “at a high rate of speed,” Moses said.
He drove through stop signs and stop lights — and police sent out a description of the vehicle, according to Moses.
The Chrysler entered Leakin Park, and other members of the SWAT team spotted the vehicle, police said.
The suspect drove up onto a curb, causing his vehicle to become airborne and crash on top of a BMW, Moses said.
A mother and her 12-year-old son, who were inside the BMW, were taken to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.
The suspect bailed out of the Chrysler, jumped a wall and ran to Hilton Parkway, chased by the SWAT officers, who were now running after him, Moses said.
As the suspect ran through the woods, he began throwing off clothes, police said. Again, officers put out a description of the man over the radio.
A patrol officer noticed the suspect hiding in a stairway behind a row house in the 3300 block of Presstman Street, Moses said. The officer told the suspect to show his hands, which were being hidden by a jacket, police said.
But the suspect threw his jacket in the officer’s face and began to rush the officer, causing the officer to shoot the suspect in the leg, Moses said.
The suspect ran from the scene, and was found hiding under a children’s swimming pool in the 3200 block of Belmont Avenue.
He was taken to Sinai Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The Chrysler was found to be stolen from West Baltimore, police said.
The suspect is facing numerous traffic violations, along with vehicle theft and assault on a police officer, Moses said.
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