An Auburn citizen is in custody after a car chase that turned into a foot pursuit Tuesday morning.
Antonio Scott, 22, had been eluding officers since the beginning of the year. He was the subject of multiple warrants.
"He has run from us three different times and managed to escape each time," said Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson. "The Lee County Sheriff's office also had two warrants on him for probation revocation due to a burglary and an escape charge."
An Auburn police officer recognized both Scott and his Chevrolet Cavalier and pulled him over just after 8 a.m. at the intersection of Dean Road and University Drive.
"The officer pulled in front of him to block his vehicle (and) got out of his police car to walk up to Scott," Dawson said. "At that point Scott accelerated, striking the officer, knocking him out of the way and fleeing the area."
The officer fired several shots into Scott's vehicle.
Scott drove into Rustic Ridge Court, where he got out of his vehicleand attempted to flee on foot. The officer as well as two back up units pursued and took him into custody.
Scott sustained no injuries. The officer sustained minor injuries and is on administrative leave while the Alabama Bureau of Investigation looks into the incident, which Dawson said was standard procedure.
"You always prefer an outside agency to investigate if you have an officer involved in a shooting of any kind," Dawson said. "It's customary just to show that there's no favoritism involved."
Dawson said the officer would probably be on leave until there was a preliminary report from ABI.
"Also it's a chance to give the officer a chance to clear his head," Dawson said, citing the trauma of having to discharge a weapon in the line of duty.
Scott faces charges of attempted murder, felony attempting to elude police, leaving the scene of an accident, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, as well as numerous traffic violations.
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