A Boston man with a lengthy criminal record allegedly ran down four Boston police officers on a Dorchester street just before 1 a.m. Wednesday, after two of the officers confronted him about reports that he had a gun in his car, according to Boston police.
Vincent J. Weaks, 34, allegedly managed to escape police after a struggle and chase that included a wrong-way trip down Mt. Ida Road, but he was arrested hours later in Dorchester. He is expected to be arraigned on four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on Friday in Dorchester District Court.
All four police officers were treated at Boston hospitals and released, authorities said.
“I want to commend the great restraint my officers used not discharging their weapons in a situation that clearly justified it given the deadly threat they encountered,” Police Commissioner William B. Evans said in a statement.
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The incident Wednesday began on Stoughton Street outside the Dublin House, after a person called police and reported seeing a man with a gun in a car near the restaurant and pub, according to police and police radio transmissions.
Initially, officers were told to look for three different vehicles: a Chevrolet Malibu with out-of-state plates, a black Lexus, and a white Cadillac. They spent the first few moments on the scene trying to figure out which vehicle they should be concerned about.
Two officers identified the Chevrolet as the car to investigate, and ordered the man sitting in the driver’s seat, who they later identified as Weaks, to get out. But according to police, when officers approached from either side and tried to take the keys out of the ignition, Weaks began to struggle. He allegedly put the car in gear and drove off, dragging the officers alongside.
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After about 20 feet, according to police, both officers were thrown from the vehicle and landed on the street. As Weaks allegedly took off, two other officers rushed to help their colleagues and were hit by the front of the car as it sped past them, knocking them to the ground, police said.
One of those officers rolled off the hood of the sedan and then fell and hit his head on the ground. As the car sped away, police said, it barely missed his head.
“All right, we’ve got a car that just hit a police officer and two other vehicles flying up Columbia Road,’’ an officer told dispatchers, according to a recording of police radio transmissions from Broadcastify.com.
The Chevrolet turned off Columbia Road and onto Quincy Street before it was seen traveling the wrong way down Mt. Ida Road, police said. Officers pursued the car onto Robinson Street, but lost sight of the vehicle on Draper Street.
About 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, gang unit officers recognized Weaks on Greenwood Street in Dorchester, and he was arrested, according to police.
An official with knowledge of the investigation said police have investigated previous reports on Stoughton Street about suspected gang members armed with guns hanging out.
Weaks has a criminal record that dates to at least 2005, according to court documents.
He was ordered to serve two years in jail in 2009 after pleading guilty to a crack cocaine charge.
In 2014, Weaks was arrested with 11 other people during a raid at an apartment in Dorchester, where officers found crack, heroin, and marijuana, and where officials said one person previously died of an overdose, according to court documents and news reports from the time. Weaks, prosecutors said, “[ran] the show” at the apartment. Court records show that in 2015 Weaks was ordered to spend a year in a house of correction for the crime, but the sentence was suspended for 18 months.
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On the same day Weaks was sentenced for that crime, he was also sentenced for beating a woman in the face with a gun in a separate 2014 incident, according to court documents. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation.
The dockets show probation violations since then, and note that Weaks did not attend court one day in July of this year because he had been shot.
Listen to the audio from Broadcastify:
More photos from the scene:
Evan Allen can be reached at evan.allen@globe.com. John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.