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Cops seek driver who tried to mow down officer

Investigators are looking for a 50-year-old man they believe tried to run down an officer during a traffic stop, police said.

Just after 9:30 p.m., two officers in the 22nd District were flagged down by a resident while responding to a report of a person with a gun on Oxford Street near 20th in North Philly, Chief Inspector Scott Small said.

The resident pointed out a man in a 2002 Volkswagen Passat, who the officers pulled over a block away, Small said.

When one of the officers approached the vehicle, the man got out and then quickly jumped back inside. He then tried to speed away, striking the officer in the process and dragging him several feet.

While he was being dragged, the officer fired one shot from his handgun, breaking the driver's side window of the Passat, Small said.

The vehicle pulled away, but was recovered minutes later on Lambert Street near Norris. No one was inside the car, Small said.

Investigators have identified the driver, whose identity they are not releasing, Small said. It's not clear if he was actually struck by the shot the officer fired.

The officer who was dragged by the car received "bumps and bruises," Small said, and is currently being interviewed by Internal Affairs, per police procedure.