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Norwalk Police: Suspect Hits Cop With Car While Fleeing Traffic Stop

NORWALK, Conn. – A traffic stop on a seatbelt violation led to a suspect striking a Norwalk Police officer with a car Friday night, according to police reports.

A Norwalk Police officer was struck in the abdomen by a suspect's car during a chase Friday night, according to police reports.

A Norwalk Police officer was struck in the abdomen by a suspect's car during a chase Friday night, according to police reports.

Photo Credit: Norwalk Police

Officers on patrol pulled over a car near McAllister Avenue and Frances Avenue on Friday evening because the driver was not wearing a seatbelt, police said.

Jah Barnabas, 44, of Bridgeport, appeared “unusually nervous,” while talking to officers, according to the arrest report. Officers believed he might have been hiding drugs in the car and called a K9 unit to the scene, police said.

While one officer was talking with a dispatcher, Barnabas drove off in his car, police said. The car’s side mirror struck another officer in abdomen in the process, according to the police report. The officer was not seriously injured, police said.

Officers followed Barnabas before losing him on Glasser Street, according to the report. A passerby flagged down police and pointed them to 100 Bouton St., telling officers that the car had gone behind the building, police said. Another witness told officers that Barnabas had struck a building as he pulled into the lot, according to the police report.

Officers saw Barnabas in the rear parking lot and chased him on foot around the building, police said. He stopped in the street and balled his fist as officers approached, police said. Officers used a Taser on him to bring him to the ground and arrested him, according to the police report. He was hit with the stun gun a second time while on the ground after refusing to allow police to handcuff him, according to the arrest report.

A nearby resident told police that she had seen Barnabas stop near a tree in her yard before police arrived. Officers searched and found a plastic bag containing individually wrapped pieces of a rock-like substance, according to the police report. The substance later tested positive as 1.75 grams of crack-cocaine, police said.

Barnabas was arrested and charged with assault on a police officer, interfering with police, engaging in pursuit, reckless driving, evading responsibility, trespassing, possession of narcotics, intent to sell and possession within 1,500 feet of a school. He was also issued tickets on failing to wear a seat belt, failing to carry insurance information and improper tail lamps. He was held on $25,000 bond and is due in court Oct. 21.

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