BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A Boston man is facing charges after allegedly fleeing from a stolen car, resisting arrest, spitting on a Trooper, and defecating in the back of his police cruiser.
According to Massachusetts State Police, at 10 a.m. on Tuesday Braintree Police put out a call for a white Ford Explorer that had been stolen from a pet supply parking lot, with the owner's dog inside.
At approximately 10:50 a.m., MSP said a Trooper on Route 3 southbound in Kingston was "almost struck by the stolen vehicle as it travelled past him at a high rate of speed."
Another Trooper ahead of the fleeing suspect deployed a tire deflation device across Route 3; the spike strips impacted two of the Explorer’s tires but the vehicle kept traveling southbound.
After MSP initiated a pursuit, the man behind the wheel of the stolen vehicle crashed on the ramp from Route 3 southbound to Route 44 westbound, and officers say he fled on foot toward Commerce Way in Plymouth.
By around 11:15 a.m., a Trooper found the suspect on foot on Industrial Park Way in Plymouth.
"The suspect immediately become unruly and resistant, said he was COVID positive, and refused to identify himself," said the police report. "The suspect then spit at the Trooper as he was taken into custody and continued to spit inside the cruiser during transport. He also defecated in the back of the cruiser and in the State Police-Norwell Barracks booking area."
At the Barracks, MSP said Troopers donned "full-body personal protective equipment to gain control of the hostile suspect in the holding cell and fingerprint him." He was eventually identified as 29-year-old Hamza Conner of Boston.
After determining Conner's identity and address, Troopers checked his name against a public health database in the city of Boston and determined he had never been tested for COVID-19.
Upon transfer to Norfolk County jail, MSP said Conner was "determined to be showing no coronavirus symptoms and went through intake protocols. He has not yet been tested for COVID-19, although the Department said it will be "attempting to have [him] tested."
Conner was charged with motor vehicle offenses, making threats, witness intimidation, refusing to identify himself, vandalism, and resisting arrest.
A hazardous waste cleanup company was contacted to clean the cruiser and the barracks. Three Troopers involved in taking Conner into custody and then controlling him at the barracks were also put on a brief leave and will be monitored for symptoms of coronavirus.
The dog that was in the vehicle when it was stolen was found in Somerville and has been reunited with his family. Police said they believe Conner drove to the Boston area after stealing the vehicle, and left the dog there.
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(Photo: Getty Images)