Police: Man in Stolen Moped Hits Cop, Two Parked Cars

A man driving a stolen moped ran into an investigator with the Somerville Housing Police, dragged him a few feet along the road, crashed into two parked cars and then took off on foot, according to an incident report provided by the .

The incident happened July 12 at about 3:45 p.m., according to the report, when the investigator tried to pull over the moped because it was allegedly driving on the wrong side of Memorial Road.

Instead of smoothly pulling over, the moped driver, 26-year-old Toure Penn-Foster of Cambridge, according to the report, allegedly accelerated and narrowly missed driving into the investigator.

Penn-Foster ultimately came to a stop, but when the investigator started questioning him, he accelerated the moped, striking the officer's leg, catching his pant leg, dragging him "several feet," then hitting two parked cars, the report says.

After that, Penn-Foster pushed the officer away, jumped off the still-running moped and fled on foot down Butler Drive, according to the report.

At this point the moped was "profusely spilling gasoline," the report says, so the investigator tried to turn it off while broadcasting a description of the suspect. Somerville Police eventually spotted him on Governor Winthrop Road, the report says.

Penn-Foster allegedly then led officers on a foot chase through back yards in the area before he was captured.

Police arrested Penn-Foster and charged him with assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, defacing property, failure to stop for police, driving with a suspended license and failure to keep right for an oncoming vehicle.

Police confirmed the vehicle was stolen out of Medford, the report says.

Please remember that allegations contained in police reports do not indicate a conviction.