HOUSTON — A driver of an Infiniti SUV who refused to obey traffic directions hit two off-duty officers who attempted to halt him Thursday near Reliant Stadium, police said.
The officers were controlling traffic outside the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at about 6 p.m. when the incident happened at Lantern Point and McNee.
After an off-duty Freeport officer told the driver he could not go into the direction his vehicle was headed, a verbal altercation began and the driver took off with his vehicle’s mirror striking the officer, police said. That officer was not injured.
When a Houston police officer attempted to stop the man, he sped down the road into a pedestrian area outside Reliant Park, investigators said.
Rodeo attendee Donald Aikin said he was getting ready to cross McNee when the vehicle passed him.
"He started rolling and then, ‘boom,’ jumped the curb … came through here. Maybe hit the pole cause there is some debris over there," Aikin said. "It was quick. Minding my own business, walking along, then I am in a real life episode of Cops."
Robert Perales, a Precinct One deputy constable, ran to the SUV and attempted to pull the driver out of the vehicle, but was dragged and then dropped near the 2000 block of McNee and Kirby.
"When he accelerated I knew I had to push off,” Perales said. “I didn't want to get run over, that is for sure.”
The constable was transported to the hospital with a separated shoulder.
“I was lucky," he said.
Police were searching for a gray or silver Infiniti SUV with dark windows and possible damage to the front.
The SUV sped down Kirby and was last seen getting on Loop 610.
Officers told 11 News that they think the vehicle may have been stolen.
