San Francisco police arrested a man early this morning after he dragged an officer alongside his car during an attempted traffic stop in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.
An officer saw a white Chrysler PT Cruiser “driving erratically” southbound on Ashbury Street near Haight Street at about 1:40 a.m. and pulled the car over at Ashbury and Clayton streets, according to police spokesman Officer Boaz Mariles.
The officer smelled alcohol on the driver, 28-year-old Antonio Dalballo, and began a DUI investigation.
Dalballo began reaching for the ignition and ignored the officer’s commands to stop, Mariles said. When the officer reached into the car to pull the keys out of the ignition, Dalballo allegedly grabbed the officer’s arm, held it and took off down the street.
The officer was dragged along the road as Dalballo drove through two intersections at over 40 mph, colliding with several parked cars along the way.
The officer was finally thrown to the ground at Clayton and 17th streets. His injuries were minor, and he was treated at San Francisco General Hospital and released.
Meanwhile, additional police units received information Dalballo was in the unit block of Fairview Court, several blocks away in the Twin Peaks neighborhood, where he was arrested about 20 minutes later, according to Mariles.
Dalballo was booked on suspicion of felony aggravated assault on an officer and felony drunken driving with injury. He was also booked for evading a police officer and marijuana possession.
