Man Hit By Drexel Police Car Plans To File Lawsuit - DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG
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The attorney for a man who was stopped by police after an alleged attempted burglary and then hit by a Drexel police car on campus says he plans to file a lawsuit on behalf of his client against the university.
The incident was captured on surveillance video taken on December 30th, 2011. In the video, a man can be seen running away after being stopped by Drexel Police, who were looking for a suspect in an attempted burglary.
What happens next is hard to watch, as 43-year-old Walter Johnson is seen getting hit and then pinned up against a wall by a Drexel University Police vehicle.
Moments later, the car pulls back and Johnson falls to the ground.
Johnson's attorney tells FOX 29's Chris O'Connell his client suffered a broken leg and a shattered pelvis - injuries that left him in a wheelchair for nearly nine months.
Before the collision, the video shows Johnson and another man trying to get through the locked doors of several university buildings.
In a statement from Drexel's Office of University Communications issued late last month, the university said it was notified by Johnson's attorney that he intended to file a lawsuit related to the "pursuit and arrest" of his client.
The university says a man who was apprehended during an attempted burglary on campus was struck by a campus police car as he was attempting to flee from police.
The police officer immediately called an ambulance and the suspect was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, the university said.
Johnson's attorney says he just wanted to use the bathroom and that it was nothing illegal.
His attorney says Johnson, who does have a criminal record, wasn't supposed to be there and should have been in a halfway house as a part of his probation in a prior case.
After an investigation, the district attorney's office withdrew charges.
The university says it will not comment any further on the incident.
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