Phila. officer shoots at car as partner is dragged away

A Philadelphia police officer fired a shot at a car that was dragging his partner in a case that led to a chase Wednesday night, police said.

The man, Ronald Gaskins, 34, was a suspect in a Monday abduction in which a woman was bound with duct tape and left in a car, police said.

Around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday, patrol officers in the 15th District spotted a dark-green Toyota parked on the 7300 block of Ditman Street that matched the description of the car in the abduction. When the officers approached the car, Gaskins, who was sitting inside, reversed the car, and the sweater of one of the officers got snagged on the side of the car, police said.

Gaskins began to drive forward, dragging the officer, police said. The officer's partner drew his gun and fired once, hitting a back window, police said.

No one was injured, they said.

The snagged officer managed to untangle himself, and the car sped off on Cottman Avenue, police said.

During a pursuit, Gaskins' car crashed at Frankford Avenue and Convent Street, police said. Officers chased him on foot, and, after a brief struggle in which Gaskins was Tasered, he was taken into custody.

Police said Gaskins, of Holmesburg, faces several charges and had been identified as the man involved in the abduction.