Click It or Ticket? Man Panics & Runs Over Officer's Legs

Marcos Gonzalez/Garden Grove Police Department

The 35-year-old officer pulled Gonzalez over for not wearing his seat belt around 9:30am. The men came to a stop in the parking lot of a shopping center. As the officer wrote the ticket, he noticed Gonzalez acting strangely, said Garden Grove Police Lt. Jeff Nightengale, reports The OC Register.

"The guy starts acting nervous, so (the officer) asked him to step out of the car," said Nightengale.

After patting down Gonzalez, the officer radioed for backup. Gonzalez raced back to his vehicle and hopped inside, leaving his driver's side door open. After a brief struggle, the suspect managed to put the vehicle in reverse. The open door knocked the officer to the ground.

"Then he put the car in drive and drives over the officer's legs," Nightengale said.

The officer suffered moderate injuries and remained hospitalized as of Wednesday night. He is a 10-year veteran of the Garden Grove Police Department.

Officials have been trying to track down the culprit since the incident. Searches at two residences - one in Orange County and another in the Inland Empire - yielded zero results. Authorities are clueless as to the motive behind Gonzalez's frantic reaction. His record lacks warrants and any obvious reasons for fleeing, and his vehicle, an Infiniti, was not believed to be stolen.

Gonzalez is described as 5' 8" tall and 220 pounds. Anyone with information should call police at 714-741-5704.