Holly MatkinGreeley, CO – A Dacono police officer ended up in a life-and-death struggle with an arrestee during a drive to the Weld County Jail on Wednesday night, according to police.
The attack occurred just before 11 p.m., as the unidentified officer was transporting 20-year-old Michael Zamarron from an arrest location in Longmont to the jail facility in Weld County, the Greeley Police Department (GPD) said in a press release early Thursday morning.
As the officer turned northbound onto 83rd Avenue from 10th Street in Greeley, Zamarron managed to slip out of his handcuffs and reached “through the window of the patrol car,” according to the GPD.
Greeley police told KMGH the officer had the window partially opened in order to communicate with the suspect more easily.
According to the GPD, Zamarron reached through the window and proceeded to bash the officer multiple times in the head before he successfully “grabbed the officer’s duty firearm from the holster.”
The officer slammed on the brakes before the suspect had yanked the gun fully from the holster, and began fighting with Zamarron over control of the weapon.
“During the struggle for the officer’s handgun, one round was fired,” the GPD said.
Neither the suspect nor the officer was struck by the bullet, KMGH reported.
Greeley officers raced to the scene and took the violent suspect back into custody, the department said.
Zamarron has since been booked into the Weld County Jail on additional charges of disarming a peace officer, attempted escape, and second-degree assault on a police officer.
The officer he allegedly attacked was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and has since been released to recover at home, KMGH reported.
Greeley police are handling the ongoing investigation into the incident.
Sandy Malone
