POLICE: Driver elbowed officer and dragged him 30 feet before...

SANDWICH – According to several Sandwich Police reports filed in Barnstable District Court, yesterday at about 7:15 p.m. – Monday March 25, 2019 – two Sandwich Police Officers assigned to a tandem squad car observed a black Ford Explorer cross the center line into oncoming traffic on Quaker Meeting House Road.

Upon stopping the vehicle, the operator allegedly gave officers a false name.

The male operator and female passenger both allegedly showed signs of drinking. Officers reportedly observed a half empty bottle of Hennessy and a couple of nip bottles. Officers also reportedly observed a sandwich baggie of Marijuana on the driver’s side floor, along with “multiple small corner cut baggies with a white powdery substance.”

A third Sandwich police officer arrived on scene to assist.

The operator was ordered out and to the rear of the vehicle, where a patrolman told him to place his hands behind his back to be handcuffed. According to the police report, the suspect spun around and struck the patrolman in the chest with his elbow, while also trying to break free.

During the scuffle, the operator managed to reenter the vehicle and floor the gas pedal, taking off at a high rate of speed. The patrolman reportedly continued to struggle with the suspect, ordering the suspect to stop “before being dragged half in the vehicle about 30 feet” before letting go and landing in the middle of Quaker Meeting House Road.

The female suspect was taken into custody and was unable to flee along with the driver.

Officers scrambled, attempting to catch up to and stop the fleeing Ford Explorer but it had already made it over the Sagamore Bridge into the Town of Plymouth.

The vehicle was registered to 3 Citation Drive in Plymouth and Plymouth officers located it there about 10 minutes after the initial pursuit.

A Plymouth County K-9 Officer responded to 3 Citation Drive and eventually located the suspect hiding in the attic of the residence underneath some insulation.

Trevon M. Souza, age 20, of New Bedford was transported back to Sandwich Police Headquarters and charged with A&B on a Police Officer, A&B on a Police Officer with a Dangerous Weapon, Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Suspended License, Operating to Endanger (two counts), Failure to Stop For Police, Resisting Arrest, Refusing to Identify Self while Operating a Motor Vehicle, Possession of a Class B Drug, and Marked Lanes Violation.

Souza was arraigned today in Barnstable District Court. At the time of this report, Souza is currently being held at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility on $5,000 cash bail.

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As you will see in the following HN Video, Sandwich Police Officers returned to the scene of the initial traffic stop last evening shortly after Souza reportedly fled the scene. The patrolman who was reportedly struck and dragged was checked out by rescue but did not need to be transported to CCH.

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