19 May
Detective Aaron J. Stewart - Injured
Today in Baltimore Police History 19 May 1995 Our Brother Detective Aaron J. Stewart was injured in the Line of duty based on the following:
Officer dragged and then shot while trying to stop car thief
May 20, 1995,|By Peter Hermann | Peter Hermann, Sun Staff Writer
A police officer was shot near his Southwest Baltimore house yesterday after he tried to stop a man from stealing a car and was dragged as he hung onto the driver's side window.
The incident left several parked cars damaged. The officer's weapon also discharged, apparently striking the driver in the abdomen.
'There was a lot of commotion, a lot of cars banging, a lot of shots fired and a good person got hurt,' said one witness, who wouldn't give her name for fear of reprisal.
The injured officer, Detective Aaron J. Stewart, 34, a nine-year veteran who is well known and liked in the Norwood Heights neighborhood, was in good condition yesterday at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. He was being treated for a gunshot wound to the left ankle, a bite on the left arm and burns on his feet.
Police was guarding the apparent suspect, who has not been charged, at Shock Trauma yesterday. His condition was not available, but police said his injuries were not life-threatening.
The incident began about 6 a.m. when Detective Stewart -- who lives in the 400 block of S. Wickham Road and is assigned to the sex offense unit -- ran out of his house when he heard a noise, possibly breaking glass.
Thinking a man was trying to steal a cream-colored Nissan 300 ZX parked on the side of the road, the officer took out his 9 mm semiautomatic handgun and ran to the driver's side window. 'He said, 'Stop, I'm a police officer,' ' said Agent Robert W. Weinhold Jr., a police spokesman.
Police said the driver tried to put the car in gear, and Detective Stewart dived through the side window to pull up the emergency brake. The car began to move as the two struggled. Agent Weinhold said the officer's gun discharged, apparently striking the driver, who bit Detective Stewart on the left arm.
Meanwhile, the car careened up an embankment, struck the large rock, then accelerated back onto the street, dragging Detective Stewart, who became dislodged and landed in the middle of Wickham Road as the Nissan plowed into four parked cars. The driver ran away.
At the same time, a dark-colored car that had sped off when the detective ran from his house returned, and at least one of the occupants opened fire on the officer, striking him once in the ankle. The officer could not return fire because his gun was several feet away.
About 30 minutes later, Agent Weinhold said, a woman called police from a house in the 3100 block of Westmont Ave. in West Baltimore and reported that her son had been shot in the abdomen. Police said that shooting victim is a suspect in the dragging incident.
Police officers later recovered a stolen dark blue 1992 Acura Vigor in the first block of E. 22nd St. Agent Weinhold said $H investigators believe it is the car from which shots were fired at Detective Stewart.
Twenty shootings in Baltimore this year have involved the police. Six of them have been fatal.
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