WATCH: Gloucester Township Police Officer Injured After Being Dragged By Suspect's Vehicle That Crashed Into Tree
GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) -- Heart-stopping video shows a dramatic exchange with police that ended with a South Jersey officer being dragged by a car. Gloucester Township Police Officer Craig Walsh was released from the hospital and is recovering at home Thursday evening, while two teens are facing felony charges.
Walsh issued a frantic call to dispatch after he was dragged nearly 50 feet by a car around 11 p.m. Wednesday night. It all happened in the parking lot of the Howard Johnson Hotel on the 800 block of North Black Horse Pike in Blackwood.
"I saw a car inside those little bushes, and they started to put the crime scene tape around," eyewitness Ivan Caldera said.
As you can see in the surveillance video, the six-year-veteran of the Gloucester Township Police Department approached a car that appeared suspicious in the parking lot.
While Walsh was speaking with the two teens, the driver put the car in reverse, instantly pinning the officer in the open side door, and that's when he was dragged.
"I hope the police officer is doing well because I can tell he was dragged quite a distance," Caldera said.
Walsh's foot was run over and he also sustained a knee injury.
The Gloucester Township police chief says it's the training officers go through that allowed Walsh to exercise restraint.
"I think there's no doubt, by listening to the audio, that he feared for his life and he took the actions that were most appropriate to bring that situation under control," Police Chief Harry Earle said.
Now it's up to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office to make sure justice is served.
"We trust that the criminal justice system will play out as it should," Earle said.
Police say they found five-and-a-half ounces of marijuana in the vehicle. The teens are both facing aggravated assault charges.
