WICOMICO CO. MAN CHARGED FOR ASSAULT ON TROOPER

(BALTIMORE, MD) – The Wicomico County man who held a state trooper inside his car while he tried to flee a traffic stop has been charged in connection with the incident.

The suspect is identified as Harry F. Wyatt-Swift, 23, of Salisbury, Md. He is charged with attempted first degree murder, attempted second degree murder, first and second degree assault, second degree assault on a law enforcement officer, reckless endangerment, false imprisonment, an obstructing/hindering a police officer.

State Police Homicide Unit investigators served the warrant on Wyatt-Swift yesterday afternoon at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where he is undergoing treatment for at least one gunshot wound and for injuries sustained when he subsequently ran into a utility pole guide wire and his car overturned. A court commissioner was at the hospital and conducted an initial appearance proceeding after the warrant was served. Wyatt-Swift was ordered held without bond and remanded to the custody of the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center. 

He will remain under guard by a security detail during his hospital stay, which is expected to last at least the next several days.

Wyatt-Swift was stopped by a state trooper from the Salisbury Barrack shortly before 1:30 a.m. on May 7, 2013, near Salisbury, for speeding and suspected DUI. When he attempted to flee the stop, the trooper reached in the vehicle to get the keys. The investigation indicates Wyatt-Swift grabbed the trooper’s arm and drove off, with the trooper hanging out the driver’s side window. After repeated commands to stop were ignored, the trooper was in fear for his life and shot Wyatt-Swift. The suspect released the trooper and drove on until he struck the guide wire and overturned. 

He was taken into custody when he surrendered to police after a brief search. 

Submitted:
Maryland State Police