A police officer investigating a stolen car out of Woodbridge ended up in a struggle with the driver who allegedly pulled a knife on him and then tried to escape, police said.
EAST BRUNSWICK -- A police officer investigating a stolen car out of Woodbridge ended up in a struggle with the driver who allegedly pulled a knife on him and then tried to escape, police said.
Authorities said Patrolman Bruce Diamond conducted a motor vehicle stop Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015, on a 2000 Honda Civic in the parking lot of the American Office Mall on Route 18. The car had been reported stolen out of Woodbridge the day before, police said.
Police said the driver, identified as Devin Seara, 26, of Woodbridge, started to get out, but Diamond told him to him to get back in, at which time, authorities said he tried to reach under the steering wheel to restart the car.
The patrolman told him to stop and tried to pull him out of the vehicle at which time "Seara reached with his right hand into the front part of the center console and pulled out a knife," according to a news release from the East Brunswick Poilice Department.
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The release said the two struggled, but Diamond was able to gain control of the hand holding the knife. As Diamond tried to arrest him, Seara ran toward the Crosspointe Condominium development, located off Tices Lane, and the patrolman chased him, calling dispatch for help.
Following a foot pursuit, Seara was caught hiding in a bush and, after resisting arrest, was taken into custody by Patrolman Robert Theoret, according to the press release. The knife was found near where Seara was hiding.
Seara was charged with theft of the vehicle, aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, having prohibited weapons and devices, hindering his own apprehension, receiving stolen property and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Diamond and Seara were treated at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for injuries they received in the scuffle and released.
He is in the Middlesex County jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.
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