Lafayette (LA) Police Officer in critical condition after being drug by a vehicle

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A Lafayette Police officer was dragged for 100 feet by a car early Sunday morning after a driver tried to avoid a traffic stop downtown, police say.

The officer was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Officers tried at about 1:30 a.m. to stop a car that was driving recklessly in the 400 block of Jefferson Street, which is downtown between Garfield and Congress streets, spokesperson Sgt. Robin Green said in a release.

That portion of downtown is typically crowded on Friday and Saturday nights with portions being blocked off for restaurant and bar patrons. Saturday night was Art Walk and the area was filled with people.

The driver, later identified as a 24-year-old from Lake Chares, tried to avoid officers and sped away but hit a roadblock, Green said. The driver put the car in reverse and ran over a police officer, dragging him about 100 feet.

An officer shot at the car to stop it but no one was hit, Green said. The driver was eventually arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder, reckless operation of a vehicle, resisting an officer with force and operating while intoxicated.

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UPDATE, 9:58 a.m.: Jaylin Chavis, 24, of Lake Charles, has been arrested and booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center.

Chavis faces charges of attempted first-degree murder, reckless operation of a vehicle, resisting an officer with force/violence, and OWI (first offense).

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