2 Plymouth Township police officers taken to hospital after driver strikes them, officials say
A driver was taken into custody after hitting two Plymouth Township police officers with a car multiple times while trying to evade law enforcement Friday afternoon, authorities said.
This incident happened in the DoubleTree hotel parking lot off Hickory Road, just across from the Plymouth Meeting Mall. Calls reporting an alleged erratic driver near Hickory and Narcissa roads came in shortly before 12:30 p.m., authorities said.
A Plymouth Township police officer responded to the parking lot and pulled up behind a white Mercedes SUV when the alleged erratic driver rammed into the police car.
Tom Nolan, Deputy Chief of Detectives for the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, said the police officer then got out of his vehicle, and the suspect drove right at him. The police officer then shot at the suspect's SUV and was hit by the car, according to Nolan.
Dalton Lee Janiczek, 21, of Lower Gwynedd, was charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer and other related charges, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Plymouth Township Chief of Police John C. Myrsiades announced on Saturday.
Janiczek drove through the parking lot and went out of view temporarily before returning to the scene as the police officer was trying to apply a tourniquet to himself, Nolan said.
"He's trying to self-put on a tourniquet, the vehicle drives directly at him, striking him a second time," Nolan said. "The vehicle then does back up two additional times and strikes the officer intentionally two more times."
In an affidavit from Montgomery County detectives, they said that before the hotel parking lot incident at 11:56 a.m., a Whitpain Township sergeant received information earlier Friday about Janiczek threatening to blow up a police department in an incident in Chester County. The detectives also said the sergeant and the entire Whitpain Township police department are familiar with Janiczek and the Mercedes G-Wagon he drives.
The affidavit mentions three other incidents before the hotel parking lot on Friday. Two of the incidents involve Janiczek refusing to stop for a traffic violation and speeding.
In total, Nolan said the officer was struck by the Janiczeks' SUV four times.
Investigators said a second Plymouth Township officer was then rammed by Janiczeks' vehicle while inside a patrol car.
"The officer exits his vehicle and the suspect drives directly at him. The officer does discharge his firearm at the vehicle and the officer is struck at that point," said Nolan.
The affidavit states the first officer fired five shots at Janiczeks' SUV after he initially struck the police vehicle.
Both officers were taken to the hospital; one was taken to Paoli Hospital, and the other was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Their names were not immediately released.
The affidavit said the first officer was airlifted to a Philadelphia hospital with severe leg injuries and will need multiple surgeries while in the ICU. The second officer also sustained leg injuries.
Sources told CBS News Philadelphia they're expected to be OK as both officers talked at the scene.
Janiczek was treated at Abington Hospital with a graze wound to his head and was later taken to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after being cleared. When being taken into custody while in handcuffs, the affidavit said an officer heard Janiczek say, 'Put me in the car or I will kill you.'"
He was also recently reported for erratic driving in numerous places in Montgomery and Chester counties, sources told CBS News Philadelphia.
"I believe state police, Whitpain police, Springfield, Montgomery County police, and Easttown, Chester County, all had interactions with this vehicle in the past few days, but we're still trying to track all that down," said Nolan.
Investigators said they are scoping through surveillance footage and the officers' body-worn cameras to try and piece together what happened. One of the officers' body-worn cameras is said to have captured the incident, the affidavit said.
Janiczek was denied bail. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled on Nov. 4.