Feb. 24--A Freeland police officer issuing a citation was dragged by a fleeing vehicle on Ridge Street in the borough Thursday afternoon, according to witnesses.
A call of "officer down" came from the area of Ridge and Main streets around 3:30 p.m., according to preliminary emergency reports.
Witnesses at the scene said Officer Matthew Williams was speaking to a man in a pickup truck about a fuel spill when the man sped away with the officer clinging to the truck.
Cody Salko, 19, of 620 Ridge St., said he saw the officer being dragged about 60 feet south on Ridge Street until he let go of the truck and rolled to the street near the intersection of Main Street.
Freeland police said Williams was transported by helicopter to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Hospital in Plains Township where he was treated for various injuries including a concussion and facial fractures and later released.
Police identified the driver of the truck as Michael Mokshefski Jr., 27, of Blakeslee in Monroe County.
Salko said he and his family are familiar with Mokshefski, but only knew him by his first name.
Salko said the incident began unfolding Thursday afternoon when Mokshefski offered to get a canister of home heating fuel for the Salkos. The man returned with the fuel canister and got into an argument with members of the Salko family, claiming one of them broke the tail light on his truck, Salko said.
In anger, Mokshefski kicked the fuel canister, knocking it over and spilling the fuel on the street in front of a neighboring home, Salko said. Mokshefski then called police to report the fuel spill, Salko said.
Police arrived at the scene along with firefighters from the Freeland Fire Department.
Salko's brother, Michael, 23, said he was in the house watching out the window as the officer spoke with the man in the truck.
"He drug the cop right down the street to the stop sign. I witnessed him spin around when he let go," Michael Salko said.
Michael Salko's girlfriend, Mandy Schlauch, 23, said she was laying her 1-year-old baby boy down for a nap when she heard the sound of tires squealing on the street outside.
"I looked out and saw Officer Williams laying on the ground," Schlauch said.
Salko said he yelled for a neighbor to call 911, but members of the borough fire department who were already at the scene in response to the fuel spill used emergency responder radios to broadcast the call of "officer down."
Police from several area departments responded to the call and were directed to be on the lookout for an older-model blue or gray truck that was involved in the incident. Initially, the truck was reported to be headed toward Hazleton. Later, reports indicated the truck was headed toward White Haven and Interstate 80.
Four police vehicles were stationed at Diamond Avenue and Stockton Mountain Road near the Hazleton/Hazle Township line. A second group of law enforcement officials were stationed on Route 940, east of Freeland near the intersection of Sandy Valley Road and Crescent Road.
A medical helicopter landed at Della Croce Field to airlift Williams to Geisinger Wyoming Valley for treatment.
Borough firefighters used apparatus to block traffic from entering the vicinity of Main and Ridge streets while police Chief Nadine Sist and state police interviewed witnesses and launched an investigation.
Freeland police said Mokshefski was taken into custody by state police in Monroe County and transported to the state police station at Hazleton, where he will be held awaiting arraignment.
Copyright 2012 - Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa.
