LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Two men have been arrested after police say they drove into an officer's cruiser near South Hurstbourne Parkway overnight.
According to police, the incident took place just before 3 a.m. Tuesday, when an officer with the Louisville Metro Police Department noticed a suspicious vehicle behind a motel at the intersection of South Hurstbourne Parkway and Watterson Trail.
Investigators say two men were inside that car, which was reported stolen.
According to arrest reports, those men were 18-year-old Sean Pendleton and 18-year-old Damien Maddox. Police say both men admitted to being passengers in the vehicle.
Police say the officer tried to initiate a traffic stop.
Initially, police said someone inside the car fired a shot at the officer at some point during the encounter. By Tuesday afternoon, LMPD spokesman Dwight Mitchell said police were still trying to determine whether or not that was the case.
Police say the officer did fire her weapon, and the driver in the stolen car sped off, hitting her police cruiser while she was still inside.
Investigators say they found the stolen car less than a mile away on Dellwood Place, but the men who were inside it were gone.
LMPD sent a helicopter up to look for them, and Maddox and Pendleton were arrested in a field behind the Meijer on South Hurstbourne Parkway.
According to arrest reports, they are currently charged with receipt of stolen property and fleeing or evading police on foot. Police say both men claimed to be passengers in the vehicle.
Mitchell says a third suspect is still on the loose. It is not known if that third suspect was the driver.
LMPD's Public Integrity Unit is investigating the incident, according to Mitchell.
"A part of this investigation will include determining if shots were fired at the officer prior to her being struck and injured by the suspect vehicle," Mitchell said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. "The officer sustained minor injuries and [was] treated at the scene. She was not transported to the hospital."
The Meijer is the same store where a man was shot in the parking lot on Sunday. Residents who visit the store say these recent crimes are not the norm.
"Nothing surprises me anymore because so much stuff goes on," said Bertha Lowery, who lives in the area. "It might surprise me a bit to know that, but then again it really don't."
"I remember just one time when a guy tried to steal a car here," said Ray Hayden, who is also a neighbor. "That was...I guess three or four years ago. Other than that, it's pretty safe around here."
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