STANLY COUNTY, N.C. -- A police officer received props from a town official on social media after he survived an assault and a car crash, both involving the same suspect, during a two-county chase that ended in Anson County.
According to a town official, an officer with Norwood Police tried to stop a driver in front of Norwood Elementary School for having a defective headlight.
The officer, identified as Detective Michael Hodgson, was pulled into the car by the driver who tried to flee the scene with the door still open. According to the town official, Det. Hodgson was able to hold on with his legs dangling outside of the fleeing car at speeds around 80 mph.
Later in the chase, Det. Hodgson got inside the suspect's car and tried to fight the suspect as the vehicle continued to move. According to the town official, the suspect told Det. Hodgson when they get to a bridge, they would both die.
As the moving car approached the Rocky River bridge near Norwood, Det. Hodgson wrestled the steering wheel to get the car to stay on the roadway, the town official said.
The car later went over an embankment, briefly went airborne, clipped at least one tree and crashed at a private backyard in Anson County with both airbags deployed, the town official said. The suspect tried to once again flee from the scene but Det. Hodgson and a fellow Norwood police officer Trenton Weathers were able to stop the suspect, according to the town official.
"By the grace of God, the event did not turn tragic," said Norwood town official John Mullis in a Facebook post. "After interviewing Detective Hodgson, I am absolutely amazed at his thought processes as we ran through the previous event together."
Mullis said the Stanly County Sheriff's Department, N.C. State Highway Patrol, Anson County Sheriff's Department, multiple paramedic departments and fire departments responded to Friday's incident.
This incident happened on the same day a chase between a deputy and a man who tried to flee from a traffic stop in Cabarrus County ended in a deadly crash.
Authorities have not released the suspect's identity as of Saturday evening.