PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - A Pembroke Pines Police officer who was dragged for half a mile along South Florida streets while on duty is telling his story.
Officer John Cusack is now on desk duty and is lucky to be alive, after the terrifying moments on Dec. 12. He spoke with 7News about the ordeal, Monday.
“Yeah, I can say, at that point, I went into a survival mode,” Cusack said, “just trying to protect my own life at that point. I was afraid of getting run over, not knowing the individuals, not knowing what they had, not knowing anything more than what I walked up on.”
Cusack responded to an overdose call at the Century Village Retirement Community in Pembroke Pines.
Later, his body camera captured the incident as he held on for dear life while being dragged by a car. At one point, the driver, identified as Thomas Cabrera, went about 60 miles per hour before Cusack was thrown into the street.
“I can’t tell you, in a moment’s notice we were accelerating down the roadway,” he said. “My goal was to stop him from hurting himself, hurting someone else and getting on the road.”
Cusack was seriously injured and transported to the hospital. 7News was on the scene as Cusack was released a few days later.
More than a month after his release, he’s back at work, but he cannot get back out into the street until the doctor gives him the green light.
“Got a little bit of rash here, some injuries showing here,” Cusack said. “This is the one that had the biggest injury, that’s the one that was torn down to the tendon, but it’s getting better every day, getting stronger.”
Cabrera was arrested and faces several charges, including attempted murder on an officer.
Cusack hopes he will be out in the community by the end of the year.
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