A routine traffic stop exploded into violence when police say a suspect sped off with an officer trapped inside his car and dragged another officer who was holding on to the vehicle.
The dangerous and chaotic scene played out in Eustis, Florida over the weekend.
Eustis Police say during a traffic stop early Saturday morning, suspect Shakoi Donovan, 28, drove away with an officer stuck inside the driver side of his vehicle and dragged another officer 10 to 15 feet down the roadway.
The officer can be seen in another officer’s bodycam video lying on the ground.
It all started when the officers pulled Donovan over on suspicion he was driving under the influence. A police report says officers spotted a silver Infiniti weaving over a yellow line on a local street.
Two officers stopped Donovan and confronted him, asking him to step out of the car.
When he allegedly did not comply with the officers’ repeated requests to get out, they opened his car door and reached toward the suspect in an attempt to physically remove him while the vehicle was running.
It was right at this moment that the suspect is seen on officer-worn bodycamera video speeding away with one officer inside his car.
One officer is heard yelling, “He’s taking off Eustis 77 is in the car!”
The report said she was pinned between Donovan and the steering wheel.
The second officer was dragged by the vehicle “sending him tumbling across the S. Eustis Street asphalt, barrel rolling multiple times,” the police report said.
His “roll” was captured on camera. He was treated for injuries.
The full police report is available here.
Court records indicate this is not Donovan’s first run-in with the law. He was previously arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in May and was also arrested on burglary and battery charges in 2022, among other arrests within Lake County, Florida.
Donovan is facing a list of charges, including attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, and resisting with violence, among others.
He was still in jail as of Friday and is due in court on Aug. 24.
