Neighbor uses cop’s radio to get help after he’s dragged by a car, Tennessee cops say
A deputy was left in critical condition after being dragged by a car in a Tennessee neighborhood, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says.
Around 9 a.m. on June 24, a Shelby County Sheriff’s deputy was conducting a traffic stop in a Memphis neighborhood when the deputy asked the driver to get out of the car, Sheriff Floyd Bonner said in a news conference shared by WREG.
The “situation escalated,” TBI said, and the driver got back in the car and tried to drive away. The deputy tried to stop the driver, but the driver drove off as the deputy tried to get in the car and dragged him about 100 yards, TBI said.
While being dragged, the deputy pulled out his gun and shot the driver, TBI said.
The driver drove another half mile, TBI said, before crashing into a parked vehicle, according to Bonner.
A neighbor told WREG they saw the deputy lying in the road after falling out of the driver’s car.
“He was just screaming because of the pain and yelling,” the neighbor told WREG.
Bonner said one neighbor used the deputy’s service radio to call and inform dispatch of what happened.
Other neighbors brought out towels to apply on the deputy’s wounds and made a tourniquet, one neighbor told WREG.
“I say to you sir, ‘Thank you and you represent the best of our community, thank you,’” Bonner said.
The driver, identified by TBI as 21-year-old Jarveon Hudspeth, died from the gunshot wound on the way to the hospital.
The deputy had serious injuries and needed surgery on June 24, Bonner said, but is now in stable condition.
The investigation into the reason for the initial traffic stop and the cause of the escalation is ongoing, TBI said.
Bonner said there is body camera footage and video from the deputy’s vehicle that will be used in the investigation.
This story was originally published June 26, 2023 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Neighbor uses cop’s radio to get help after he’s dragged by a car, Tennessee cops say."
