Wild moment Iowa cop clings to the roof of a fleeing car with gun drawn before being flung to ground

An Iowa police officer broke his back after he was flung from the hood of a speeding car during what began as a routine traffic stop.

Newly released body cam footage shows the shocking moment officer Patrick McCarty, clinging to the roof of the moving vehicle, was no longer able to hold on. 

The incident which happened on March 5, 2021, began after he pulled over Dennis Guider Jr. and told him there was a warrant out for his arrest in Illinois.

The suspect then started to drive away prompting McCarty to step in front of the car to block him, then move onto the hood of the car. As the suspect began again to slowly drive, McCarty ordered him to stop with his gun drawn, but Guider only sped up.

Guider, 29, pleaded guilty to serious injury by vehicle this March and has been sentenced to up to five years in prison which he will serve separately from his Illinois sentence. 

Dennis Guider Jr., 29, pleaded guilty to serious injury by vehicle this March and has been sentenced to up to five years in prison which he will serve separately from his Illinois sentence

There was an outstanding warrant for Guider’s arrest for a forgery case in Illinois when he was stopped by police. 

‘I hate to be the one to tell you this, but it sounds like you’ve got a warrant out of Illinois,’ officer McCarty told him at the time. 

Footage shows him shouting at Guider as the car started to roll forward.

He then climbed on to the hood of the red vehicle and pointed his gun through the windshield and yelled: ‘Stop the car. Stop the f****** car.’ 

Guider ignored the pleas and continued to drive and McCarty shouted at him to ‘pull over’ and ‘put on the f****** brakes’

He continued to drive away at speeds of 50 miles per hour with McCarty clinging on to the roof as several police squad cars joined the chase.

Guider then turned into a gravel lot and drove through a ditch which is when the police officer lost his grip and fell to the ground.

He is seen getting thrown from the hood in another video angle taken from the dash cam of another officer. 

‘I need medics,’ the officer is heard calling over his radio.

The incident which happened on March 5, 2021, began after he pulled over Dennis Guider Jr. and told him there was a warrant out for his arrest in Illinois

In a letter to the Carroll County clerk of court in February, Guider said: ‘I feared for my life after the officer pull(ed) out his gun and jump(ed) on the hood of my car.’

McCarty, who worked for Carroll Police Department for four years before the incident, took nearly a year to recover from the injury and was off work for three months. 

Guider’s attorney asked the judge for leniency during sentencing and argued McCarty was not trained to step in front of the moving vehicle.

‘Each situation is different,’ McCarty told the hearing last week. ‘It certainly didn’t play out the way I intended’ 

But Carrol Police Department chief Brad Burke told the Iowa Capital Dispatch that McCarty ‘in the heat of the moment made a lapse in judgment in an attempt to apprehend the suspect.’

He added: ‘This is a training point that is used for all the officers going forward from the incident.’