CMPD chief: Officer dragged, run over, saved by helmet

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte's police chief said an officer dragged and then run over by a car he was trying to stop Tuesday may have been saved by his helmet.
                  
Officer Richard "Brad" Starnes, a motorcycle officer, had road rash and a broken leg after he managed to free himself from that car on Reagan Drive in north Charlotte. 
                  
"He's very fortunate. He knows that and we know that," Chief Rodney Monroe told Eyewitness News Thursday.
                 
Monroe said Starnes had pulled the car on West Sugar Creek Road and then tried to reach into the car to keep it from taking off again.
 
"He made a motion to either put the car in park or retrieve the keys, and that's when the individual grabbed him and more or less pulled him into the vehicle," Monroe said.
 
Monroe said he has seen video from a patrol car's dash camera that shows Starnes' helmet hitting the pavement after he is freed from the car.
                 
"He was at grave risk -- based on the speed and the way that he came off of that vehicle, it could've killed him," Monroe said.
                  
The two suspects in the case, Clay and Maurice Cash, said nothing as they made their court appearances on Thursday afternoon.
    
Family members also declined to comment on the case.

Read past coverage: 2 charged with attempted murder after CMPD officer injured

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