Officer Wounds Teen In Car Break-In Call

An Anne Arundel County police officer shot and wounded an unarmed Hyattsville teenager yesterday after the teenager twice ran into him with an SUV, according to police and a witness.

The incident began just before 3 a.m., when a resident of an apartment complex in the 3400 block of Andrew Court near Laurel called 911 to say that two men were breaking into her neighbor's Dodge Durango, according to police and the resident. An officer arrived, spotted two people in the Durango and approached it, authorities said. Police said the Durango then backed into the officer and his car, and as he yelled for the driver to stop, the sport-utility vehicle hit him again.

The officer eventually ordered the driver, a 16-year-old, out of the Durango, authorities said. Police said the driver made a quick move for his waistband, and the officer fired, striking the teen twice. The passenger in the Durango ran, and another man believed to be connected to the incident drove away in a black Chrysler Concord, authorities said.

Police said they did not recover a weapon at the scene. Investigators believe three people, including the 16-year-old, traveled to the complex in the Concord to steal the Durango, authorities said.

A woman who lives in the complex and saw the incident gave a slightly different account than that of police. Most notably, the woman, who declined to give her name for fear of retaliation, said the officer fired two shots into the SUV before the teenager got out of the vehicle and surrendered. Police declined to detail any physical evidence that backs up the officer's account but said other witnesses had confirmed the officer's description.

The teenager was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries police described as not life-threatening. The officer was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries, police said.

Authorities declined to identify the officer or the 16-year-old. The shooting was the second by Anne Arundel officers in as many days. On Monday, two officers shot and killed a Baltimore man who was threatening another man with a box cutter, authorities said.