Police have charged a Maryland dump truck driver with attempted murder, saying that he purposely hit two Prince George’s County police cruisers with his dump truck Wednesday morning, WUSA9 reports.
Gene Thomas Brandon Jr. is currently being held without bond on two counts of attempted murder and two counts of first-degree assault.
According to the report, the cruisers were empty at the time of the attack, which occurred at the Woodmore Town Center at around 11:35 a.m. Wednesday. Police have released video showing the dump truck ramming into the cruisers, pushing them for some distance. As that happens, two figures who appear to have been next to the vehicle run away.
Officials said that the officers were outside talking when the driver of the truck yelled at them. The officers said they told the driver to keep going because he was blocking traffic. The driver left but turned around in the parking lot before “barreling directly” toward the officers, police said.
Afterward, authorities said Brandon leaped from the truck and approached the officers, who managed to take him into custody.
Brandon has a history of mental illness, police said, and told investigators that he had not been taking his medication.
Read more at WUSA9.