(WESH, NBC NEWSCHANNEL) A traffic stop quickly escalated to a life-threatening situation for a South Daytona police officer.
He was running the accused violator’s license when he noticed him ruffling his hands near the console of his yellow Jeep.
The officer identified the driver as 61-year-old Frank Wetzel, a previously convicted felon, so investigators say the officer asked the suspect if he was hiding anything in the car.
The officer eventually found a large machete and a stolen handgun in the Jeep, but not before police say suspect Wetzel refused commands to get out of the vehicle.
Seconds of chaos happened next.
Officials say as the officer reached in to get the suspect out, Wetzel started the vehicle and pulled off with the officer still hanging on.
The Jeep ran over the officer’s foot.
Eventually, Wetzel was pulled out of his vehicle at gunpoint and as the situation calmed, he was placed in the back of a patrol where he asked the officer if he was being arrested.
Wetzel allegedly later told officers he tried to run because he knew the weapons would put him back behind bars.
He's being held without bond.
As for the officer, he had a very sore foot but nothing was broken.
