A Scottsdale police officer became a suspected car thief’s unwilling passenger in a wild ride through downtown early Thursday that ended when the men crashed through a wall and into a townhouse courtyard, police said.
Officer Joshua Hynson, 28, chased the suspect and stopped him near Indian School and Miller roads, Scottsdale police Sgt. Doug Dirren said.
Hynson and another officer had pulled over a 1995 gold Saturn at Sixth Avenue and Drinkwater Boulevard after receiving a report about a suspicious car near the area, Dirren said.
As officer Aaron Crawford stood at the driver’s window, Hynson opened the passenger door and leaned in to remove the keys.
Just as he did, the suspect, Kenneth David Clark, 32, of Scottsdale, restarted the engine and hit the gas.
Hynson fell in the front seat and began fighting for the steering wheel, Dirren said.
After several near misses, the car ended up on Miller Road, plowed across the raised median and went airborne. The flying car hit a retaining wall at the townhome complex and crashed into the courtyard.
Clark was booked into Maricopa County’s Madison Street Jail in Phoenix, Dirren said.
