A Milton police officer, known affectionately as the "teddy bear," sustained critical injuries during an attempt to arrest a suspect. Officer Haney, the injured policeman, was dragged through a Taco Bell parking lot and run over by the vehicle of a suspect wanted on a narcotics warrant. The incident, which unfolded yesterday, took a violent turn near the Pierce/King County line, as per a report from FOX 13 Seattle.

According to Milton Police Chief Tony Hernandez, Officer Haney was patrolling with his partner, Officer Wilcox, when they identified the suspect. An attempted detention escalated quickly after the suspect, known to police for previous offenses, fled towards an SUV. "The officer fell from the vehicle and then the vehicle ran over both of his legs," Chief Hernandez described the scene in a statement obtained by FOX 13 Seattle. While Officer Wilcox was not injured, she rendered aid to him until fire department personnel arrived on the scene.

Officer Haney suffered injuries to his legs and hands, with the ensuing situation leading to his hospitalization. Though Officer Haney was undergoing surgery, details on his condition remained scant at the time of reporting. The suspect responsible for the injuries, after a chase involving the Kent Police Department, was apprehended. The detention involved a PIT maneuver and use of pepper balls after the individual's refusal to exit the vehicle. As KOMO News reports, "A pit maneuver was performed, and the individual still refused to get out of the vehicle, and they ended up breaking out some windows and deploying their pepper ball, so he fought to the end," Hernandez explained.

The 32-year-old suspect, familiar to law enforcement from past brushes with the law, is now facing charges of felony assault on a police officer and resisting arrest as a result of his latest encounter. After being booked into Pierce County Jail, the suspect faces the weight of the legal system in what appears to be a stark escalation in a series of run-ins with the Milton Police Department. According to KING 5, the Milton Police Department knew the suspect prior to this violent incident, which underscores the cyclic struggle between repeat offenders and law enforcement officers who, like Officer Haney, pay the physical toll in the line of duty.