Middletown police have arrested a 40-year-old Bridgeport man accused of dragging a Middletown police officer with his car.
Around 11 p.m. on Dec. 3, undercover detectives with Middletown Police Department’s Street Crime Unit set up a controlled drug buy with Charles Carr in the parking lot of Tradewinds Plaza, police said.
When Carr pulled into the parking lot, the undercover officers identified themselves as police officers and tried to take Carr into custody, police said.
Carr, who police said was in his vehicle with the windows up and the car doors locked, grabbed clear plastic bags allegedly full of crack cocaine and shoved them in his mouth and took a large gulp of water to wash down the drugs, police said.
Officers broke the windows of the car to prevent Carr from destroying any further evidence. When he realized that the officers were in his car, he pressed on the accelerator to get away, drove over a median and sprayed gravel, grass and mud with his tires, police said.
Four of the officers were able to jump out of the way as Carr’s vehicle almost hit them, police said, but Carrs’ vehicle dragged one officer out of the Tradewinds parking lot, then north on Saybrook Road.
The officer was screaming at Carr to stop the vehicle, but was dragged for several yards, police said. The officer was able to break free as Carr continued to accelerate and received minor injuries.
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A Middletown Patrol Officer found Carr and attempted to stop him, but Carr sped away at more than 100 miles an hour, police said.
Officers again located Carr going north on Route 9 and pulled him over, with help from state police.
Carr continued to punch, kick and yell at the officers as they placed him under arrest, police said.
He later admitted to officers that he swallowed the crack cocaine and dragged the officer with his vehicle along with the above listed charges, police said.
Carr, a convicted felon with numerous arrests, was charged with reckless driving, disobeying an officer’s signal, engaging police in pursuit, sale of certain illegal drugs, drug possession and additional charges.
Bond for Charles Carr has been set at $400,000 and he is due in court on Dec. 18.
