WORCESTER – A Worcester Police officer was trapped in a car door and dragged a short distance following a traffic stop on Gardner Street early Friday morning.
According to the Worcester Police Department, around 2:15 AM on Friday, an officer saw a Subaru parked on a sidewalk on Canterbury Street. The operator of the vehicle – Ralek Matthews, 18, of Hudson Street – was seen walking up the vehicle, tossing a fanny pack inside and then getting in and driving away.
Matthews turned the vehicle onto Gardner Street with stopping at a stop sign. The officer pulled the vehicle over and when he approached the car, Matthews yelled that he didn’t have a driver’s license.
Police said Matthews was “extremely nervous” and “put his hand on the shifter and talked about moving the vehicle.”
When other officers arrived at the scene, Matthews was asked to step out of the vehicle. Instead, Matthews put the vehicle into drive and an officer grabbed his arm to stop him. Matthews started driving the car with the officer trapped between the car door and frame. The car dragged the officer before being able to release himself away from the vehicle. The officer didn’t suffer any serious injuries.
Police followed Matthews to Hudson Street, where the vehicle was stopped, and they placed Matthews into custody. The fanny pack was found on Gardner Street with a loaded handgun inside.
Matthews doesn’t have a license to carry firearms and is charged with:
- Carrying a Firearm without a License
- Possession of a Large Capacity Firearm
- Possession of Ammunition without an FID Card
- Possession of a Firearm while Committing a Felony
- Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon (Motor Vehicle)
- Improper Storage of a Firearm
- Unlicensed Operation
- Operating to Endanger
- Failure to Stop for Police
Matthews will be arraigned in court.
