DASHCAM

Video Shows AZ Cop Car Ramming Suspect

To stop crime-spree chase.

Arizona authorities on Tuesday released dashcam footage of a police officer using his car to hit an assailant in order to end a pursuit in February. According to police, Mario Valencia was running from authorities after stealing a rifle from a Wal-Mart in the town of Marana. He had been intercepted by police when he began pointing the gun at his head and threatening suicide, before officer Michael Rapiejko drove his cruiser onto the sidewalk and hit Valencia. The suspect was taken to the University of Arizona Medical Center in serious condition, and arrested two days later. Valencia allegedly abandoned a stolen vehicle at the store while police were investigating whether he was connected to three earlier incidents in Tuscon, authorities said.