Body-Cam Video Shows Driver Dragging Cop With Car for Half-Mile

Dramatic police body camera footage shows a Pembroke Pines, Florida police officer being dragged by a suspect for half a mile on Tuesday. The suspect, 38-year-old Thomas Cabrera, was charged with attempted murder.

Police told WTSP that the chase started in Pembroke Pines, where Officer Jon Cusack saw Cabrera and an unidentified female passenger sleeping in their car. He was sent to the scene to respond to a possible drug overdose.

"Officers responded to a call for service this morning within the Century Village community and while there, I don't know exactly what happened, but the officer was dragged by a vehicle that was being driven by an individual and occupied by a second person," Police Captain Al Xiques told WTSP.

When Cusack arrived, he knocked on the driver's side window to wake up Cabrera. The suspect opened the window, and tried to drive off. Cusack tried to reach in and stop him, but was dragged by the car for half a mile. Police said Cabrera reached speeds up to 60 mph while dragging the officer.

Eventually Cusack fell off the car, but the chase continued onto the highway for 20 miles, notes CBS News. Police finally stopped him west of I-95 at around 9 a.m.

Cusack survived the ordeal, and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. According to Local 10, he was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon.

"I'm doing well," Cusack, a 19-year veteran of the Pembroke Pines Police Department, told reporters.

"It's a fantastic feeling to know that he was doing his job and he did it well, and he survived the incident. It's a fantastic thing," Xiques said.

Cabrera was also hospitalized. In addition to the attempted murder charge, he'll also face charges of fleeing and eluding police, and driving with a suspended license.