Wild moment Iowa cop clings to the roof of a fleeing car with gun drawn before being flung to ground
“Stop the damn car man!” Wild moment Iowa cop clings to roof of fleeing car as traffic stop goes wild
- Newly released bodycam footage shows the shocking moment Officer Patrick McCarty was flung to the ground after clinging to the roof of a fleeing car
- The incident, which took place on March 5, 2021, began after Dennis Guider Jr. pulled over and told him there was a warrant out for his arrest in Illinois.
- Guider, 29, pleaded guilty to serious injury by vehicle in March and has been sentenced to up to five years in prison
An Iowa police officer broke his back after being thrown from the hood of a speeding car during what began as a routine traffic stop.
Recently released bodycam footage shows the shocking moment when Officer Patrick McCarty, clinging to the roof of the moving vehicle, was unable to hold on any longer.
The incident, which took place on March 5, 2021, began after Dennis Guider Jr. pulled over and told him there was a warrant out for his arrest in Illinois.
The suspect then began to drive off, prompting McCarty to step in front of the car to block it and then stand on the hood of the car. When the suspect started moving slowly again, McCarty ordered him to pull over with his gun drawn, but Guider only accelerated.
Guider, 29, pleaded guilty to grievous vehicular injury in March and is sentenced to up to five years in prison, which he will serve separately from his Illinois sentence.
Iowa Police Officer Patrick McCarty was flung to the ground after clinging to the roof of a fleeing suspect’s car that sped off suddenly during a traffic stop
Dennis Guider Jr., 29, pleaded guilty to grievous vehicular injury in March and is sentenced to up to five years in prison, which he will serve separately from his Illinois sentence
There was an outstanding warrant for Guider’s arrest for a forgery in Illinois when he was stopped by police.
“I hate to be the one to tell you this, but it sounds like you have a search warrant from Illinois,” Officer McCarty told him at the time.
Footage shows him yelling at Guider as the car began to roll forward.
He then climbed onto the hood of the red vehicle and aimed his gun through the windshield and yelled, “Stop the car. Stop the f****** car.”
Guider ignored the pleas and kept driving and McCarty yelled at him to ‘stop’ and ‘put on the f****** brakes’
He continued to drive off at 50 miles per hour as McCarty clung to the roof as several police cars joined the chase.
Guider then turned into a gravel lot and drove into a ditch, whereupon the police officer lost his grip and fell to the ground.
He is thrown out of the hood in another video angle taken from another officer’s dashcam.
“I need medics,” the officer hears calling over his radio.
The incident, which took place on March 5, 2021, began after Dennis Guider Jr. pulled over and told him there was a warrant out for his arrest in Illinois.
In a letter to the Carroll County clerk in February, Guider said, “I feared for my life after the officer drew his gun and jumped on the hood of my car.”
McCarty, who worked for the Carroll Police Department for four years before the incident, took nearly a year to recover from the injury and was out of work for three months.
Guider’s attorney asked the judge for leniency during sentencing, arguing that McCarty was not trained to step in front of the moving vehicle.
“Every situation is different,” McCarty said at the hearing last week. “It certainly didn’t turn out the way I intended it to”
But the Chief of the Carrol Police Department, Brad Burke, told Main Post Iowa that McCarty “in the heat of the moment made an error of judgment in attempting to apprehend the suspect.”
He added: “This is a training point used for all officers moving on after the incident.”