A police car cut through a crowd of pedestrians,
hitting several and injuring at least one person
Saturday afternoon in the center of the Washington port city of Tacoma.
The agent who was driving was responding to a complaint of a street car race, according to authorities.
The incident occurred at 6:20 pm, when about 100 people were blocking an intersection, police said in a statement.
The vehicle arrived and pushed its way through the crowd after people tried to block it, a witness said.
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A
video
posted on social media (which can be disturbing) shows
how the police car hits several people
and runs over at least one.
Mark, the witness who recorded the video (who preferred not to give his full name) and gave it to The News Tribune newspaper, saw between five and six cars turning in circles on South 9th Street between the intersections of Court A and Pacific Avenue.
"A lot of people were milling in that direction (of the police car)," Mark told the outlet.
"They intended to block it," he added.
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The officer backed up a meter and suddenly sped forward, hitting several people and knocking four or five of them to the ground.
It seems that the vehicle is going over something.
Or someone.
In another video, the sound of an engine revving is followed by a series of blows and an individual yelling, "They are hitting a police car."
Moments later a motor is heard again, people scatter and start yelling, "Oh my God!" Repeatedly.
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Tacoma police spokeswoman Wendy Haddow told the newspaper that
police were notified shortly after 6 p.m. about a street car race.
Haddow added that the responding officer used his car's megaphone to address the crowd and that it began banging on his windows.
"The agent,
fearing for his safety,
tried to back down, but was unable to do so due to the crowd," the entity said in a statement.
That led him to rush out of the scene for his own safety, he added.
One person suffered cuts in the crash and was taken to a hospital, Haddow said.
Puyallup Police Capt. Dan Pashon told KCPQ-TV that a second person was treated at the hospital and released.
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City Manager Elizabeth Pauli said
the officer involved will be put on leave
and the Pierce County investigation team will handle the case.
"I am concerned that our department is experiencing another fatal use of force incident," Acting Tacoma Police Chief Mike Ake said in the statement, pledging his department's full cooperation in the investigation.
With information from AP, The News Tribune, NBC News and CNN.
