A sheriff's deputy in Colorado was forced to react quickly after the driver of a car he pulled over emerged brandishing an assault rifle, attacked him with it and then tried to run away.
The incident was captured on Deputy Brad Proux's body camera, and shows him approaching the vehicle to speak to the driver, presumably about some sort of driving misdemeanour.
However 25-year-old Deyon Marcus Rivas-Maestas exited the car before he was able to get there, and clasping his assault rifle in both hands, swung it at the officer's face.
Deputy Proux can be seen falling onto his back following Rivas-Maestas' blow with the butt of his rifle, and as the offender attempts to run around the front of his car, it appears as though he is going to escape.
But Deputy Proux was able to whip out his pistol with impressive speed, and just as Rivas-Maestas looked to have found shelter behind the driver's door, the policeman got a shot off that struck him in the arm.
The bullet wound stopped Rivas-Maestas' escape in its tracks, and he lay down on the roadside, where he was later arrested.
Rivas-Maestas has been charged with first-degree assault of a police officer. Police say they are still unsure why he responded to being pulled over with such aggression.
Newshub.
