SOUTHAVEN, MS (abc24.com) - A Southaven police officer is recovering from injuries after she was held and dragged from a suspect's car during an arrest.
The incident occurred while the officer was on routine patrol investigating a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of a closed gas station on Church Road around 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 27.
The officer ordered the driver, 29-year-old Joshua Graham, out of the car and patted him down. When she found marijuana on Graham, he jumped back in the car, dragging the officer as he drove away.
The officer was able to fight off Graham as she was hanging out of the car for about a quarter of a mile, eventually forcing him to a stop using pepper spray. She held Graham at gunpoint near the Sonic at Church Road and Ross Pointe until other officers arrived on the scene.
The female officer, whose name has not been released by the Southaven Police Department, was treated at Baptist DeSoto Hospital for cuts and a fractured nose and released. She has served on the force for about a year, a department spokesperson told abc24.com.
Joshua Graham is charged with Kidnapping and Aggravated Assault. He is currently being held at the DeSoto County Jail.
