VIDEO: St. Paul officer dragged by truck, police searching for suspect

Police in St. Paul are asking the public for help identifying the people who briefly dragged an officer on a truck on Thursday.

According to St. Paul Police, officers responded to reports of a man harassing and chasing a 14-year-old girl in the 900 block of Arcade Street just before 1 p.m. When police arrived, the man started running away.

As officers chased the suspect, a white truck — which police say is possibly a Ram — pulled up and a passenger told the suspect to jump in the back. After the suspect jumped in the bed of the truck, he grabbed an officer’s arm and punched him while the truck drove down the street, police said.

After about five seconds, the officer was able to free his arm and he fell onto the street. Fortunately, police said the officer wasn’t seriously injured.

"Officer Morgan is tough, so he’s going to be OK," SPPD Chief Todd Axtell said. "But this could have ended tragically; we got lucky. It just goes to show you how quickly a seemingly ordinary call for service can take strange and dangerous turns.

"Hopefully someone out there knows who was involved and will give us a call so we can figure out why the man was chasing the 14-year-old girl and why the driver decided to help him make a break for it."

Police ask anyone with information on any of the people involved to call 651-266-5650.