Wilkinsburg man charged with dragging Penn Hills police officer with his car
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A Wilkinsburg man has been charged with aggravated assault, after police say he dragged a Penn Hills officer about 20 feet with his car early Tuesday morning.
Shortly after 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, a Penn Hills policeman was flagged down by a tow truck driver, who said an SUV had gone off the road along Frankstown Road near the former municipal building, according to a criminal complaint.
Police said they found a Chevy Equinox, still running, with 22-year-old Dajaun A. Austin of Wilkinsburg inside and unresponsive.
Penn Hills Officer James Spade knocked on the window with no response. He then opened unlocked door, police said.
“Austin tried closing the door, but was unsuccessful,” Spade wrote. “While he was trying to close the door, I observed a black pistol on the floorboard of the vehicle next to his feet.”
Spade asked Austin to step out of the SUV as a second officer arrived, and the two men attempted to get Austin out of the car, according to court records. Spade was able to remove the gun, a fully loaded Smith & Wesson 40-caliber semi-automatic pistol, which Pittsburgh police later determined to be stolen.
Austin, however, put the SUV into reverse and accelerated, striking Spade with the door and dragging the second officer about 20 feet before hitting a nearby building, according to the complaint. Austin then put the vehicle into drive and fled, nearly hitting Spade and a third officer who’d arrived at the scene, Spade wrote.
Police caught up with Austin in a driveway on the 12000 block of Frankstown Road and deployed a Taser to take him into custody when he began to run up a hill toward the woods.
Austin was arrested and during a pat-down was found to be in possession of a bag of suspected marijuana, eight Xanax pills, two bricks of suspected heroin and two baggies of suspected crack cocaine.
Police said Austin was driving while his license was suspended for a previous DUI conviction. He was also previously convicted of carrying unlicensed firearms.
Austin was charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault and drug possession with intent to deliver, along with fleeing police, resisting arrest, carrying an unlicensed firearm and additional traffic counts, denied bail and taken to the Allegheny County Jail.
He faces an Oct. 17 preliminary hearing in District Judge Anthony DeLuca’s Penn Hills court.
An attorney for Austin was not listed in court records.