Cop injured after driver mows him over during car stop

A motorist trying to flee a car stop this morning in Strawberry Mansion ran over the officer who had stopped him, prompting the cop to fire his gun at the fleeing car.

After an intense manhunt, police say they've caught the man responsible, and he now faces attempted murder and related charges.

Officer Joe Kochmer, 32, a five-year police veteran assigned to North Philly's 22nd District at 17th Street and Montgomery Avenue, was released tonight from Temple University Hospital, where he was taken with a leg injury after the 11:38 a.m. run-in on Susquehanna Avenue near 32nd Street, said Officer Tanya Little, a police spokeswoman.

The incident began during a routine car stop, Little said, with Kochmer obtaining the license and registration of the vehicle from the driver, identified by police as Dominique Fallins, 23.

When Kochmer walked back to his police cruiser to run the information, he noticed that Fallins had become "extremely nervous" and began "moving around the car," Little said, prompting the officer to return to the Chevy Impala and ask him to get out.

Instead, Fallins, of Stanley Street near Ridge Avenue in Strawberry Mansion, allegedly grabbed Kochmer's gun and attempted to pull him into the vehicle, police said.

When that didn't work, Fallins allegedly leaned on the gas pedal and drove away - dragging Kochmer and running over his right leg in the process, police said. As the driver fled, Kochmer fired his gun once at the Impala.

The vehicle sped west on Susquehanna, but other officers stopped it a few blocks away on Napa Street near York. Fallins was apprehended not long after on 23rd Street near Cumberland, police said.

Fallins, who was driving a stolen car with stolen Ohio plates, has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, fleeing police and related offenses, police said.

He suffered minor abrasions to his left arm from glass particles during the incident and was also treated at Temple for his injuries.