Moment police officer hangs on for expensive life off the facet of drug seller’s automotive as he tries to make speedy getaway
This is the moment a police officer hung on the side of a drug dealer’s car as he desperately tried to flee.
Josef Zielinski, 33, had been stopped in Sudbury, Suffolk, on suspicion of drug dealing, with a marked car pulling in front of him and two officers getting out.
Body-worn police footage shows Zielinski reversing his car as one officer spoke to him through the open driver’s door and the other was by the front passenger door.
PC Owen Turner, who had opened the driver’s door, was forced to jump into the vehicle and hang onto the side, while his colleague was knocked over and dragged by the car.
He said he feared he ‘might die’ and that he feared his ‘colleague and friend was either seriously injured or dead’.
Dashcam footage from the car behind caught the full scene as Zielinski reversed and crashed into the stationary vehicle behind it.
PC Turner turned the vehicle off however Zielinski turned it back on, before he was removed from the vehicle and detained.
Police later found 10 wraps of cocaine under the vehicle which Zielinski had discarded during the struggle.
Josef Zielinski, 33, had been stopped in Sudbury, Suffolk on suspicion of drug dealing, with a marked car pulling in front of him and two officers getting out
Footage shows Zielinski, reverse his car as one officer spoke to him through the open driver’s door and the other was by the front passenger door.
PC Owen Turner, who had opened the driver’s door, was forced to jump into the vehicle and hang onto the side, while his colleague was knocked over and dragged by the car
Zielinski, of Barking, London, was jailed for four years on February 6 at Ipswich Crown Court
Both officers sustained only minor injuries from the incident on November 8 last year.
Zielinski, of Barking, London, was jailed for four years on February 6 at Ipswich Crown Court.
He pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply, dangerous, driving, two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage.
Zielinski was also given a three-year driving ban.
PC Owen Turner said: ‘I conduct vehicle stops daily and what I thought would be a simple stop left me thinking that I might die and that my colleague and friend was either seriously injured or dead.
‘What Zielinski did showed his only desire was to escape, with no regard for anyone other than himself.
‘This is something that I will never forget and it will stay with me forever.’
