Video: Ohio Police Officer Thrown from Semi Cab Breaks Leg Bones

Body camera footage captured a harrowing incident as an Ohio police officer was hurled off the side of a moving tractor-trailer during a weekend confrontation with a driver who later rammed cruisers.

The incident began with a disturbance call at an IHOP at about 6 p.m. in Springfield Township, WKYC-TV reports. According to Police Chief Jack Simone, the situation escalated when a man—later identified as Jeffrey Latson—driving a semi cab with no trailer began arguing with a waitress he was reportedly in a relationship with.

Latson drove his semi behind a nearby Walmart after officers arrived, investigators said. Because of Latson's behavior, a security officer used his patrol vehicle to block the semi from returning to the road.

Police said Latson ignored repeated commands to turn off the truck's ignition and step out. Two officers moved onto the cab’s running boards to remove him, but investigators say Latson suddenly shifted the truck into drive.

In the body camera footage, officers can be heard yelling at Latson to stop and warning that he could be shot. One officer jumped clear, but the other was thrown to the pavement, suffering two broken bones in his leg.

“It’s infuriating to see the disregard for our police officers,” Simone told WKYC.

Officers chased Latson's tractor-trailer onto the interstate. Police ended the pursuit in Akron because of safety concerns, Simone said.

Akron police later spotted the semi in a parking lot, and investigators say Latson rammed several police cruisers, as well as multiple civilian vehicles, trying to flee. That's when two Akron police officers and a Summit County sheriff's deputy opened fire.

Latson was struck by the gunfire and taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening. He faces aggravated menacing and assault on a law enforcement officer charges.

“This incident is a reminder of the dangers that these officers face every day out there in the field,” Simone said.