Friday, October 23, 2015

Suspect Pulls Trigger on PGPD Officer; Loaded Gun Misfires

Suspect Had Open Warrant for Attempted Murder

 Joseph Clay



The Prince George’s County Police Department charged a man with the attempted murder of one of our officers. The suspect pointed a gun at our officer yesterday and pulled the trigger. The gun misfired. The suspect is 21-year-old Joseph Chatman Clay. His last known address is the 6700 block of Green Haven Road in Lanham.

On Thursday afternoon at about 3:00 pm, two officers on patrol spotted a car on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway driving approximately 25 miles per hour and slowing traffic. The officers conducted a traffic stop at the exit for Riverdale Road. When the car pulled over, Clay, who was the front seat passenger, bailed out and began to run. One of our officers ran after him. When Clay was just a few feet from our officer, he turned slightly as he ran, put the gun under his arm, pointed it at the officer and pulled the trigger. The gun misfired. Clay continued to run and tossed the gun over a fence. An off-duty Prince George’s County Sheriff’s Deputy who overhead the radio traffic and came to assist our officers, was able to tackle the fleeing suspect. But, Clay got back up and tried to run but the deputy and our officer were able to take him into custody.

Clay is charged with attempted murder. He had an open warrant for attempted murder in connection with a shooting in August in Riverdale.

The driver of the car is also facing drug charges. He’s 24-year-old David Edward Hall of Himes Avenue in Frederick. Officers recovered marijuana and MDMA pills in the car.

David Hall



The involved officer suffered an injury to his leg. He was treated and released. He is a seven-year veteran of the department assigned to our auto theft unit.

So far this year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, preliminarily,102 police officers across the country have died in the line of duty. We are so thankful this dangerous felon is off the streets and our officer was able to go home to his family.





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