By Kyle Lawson

Published: Friday, March 15, 2013, 1:09 p.m.
Updated: Saturday, March 16, 2013

A Monroeville police detective was not seriously injured on Friday when he tried to arrest a suspected drug dealer in the Monroeville Mall parking lot.

The unidentified detective was “spun to the ground” as he tried to stop a man from driving away about 12:30 p.m., police said.

Police are searching for a gold Chevrolet Malibu with the Pennsylvania license plate HFZ-9548, according to emergency dispatchers.

The incident began when the detective saw drugs being exchanged between people in two vehicles in the parking lot near Burlington Coat Factory, police said. When he tried to arrest them, a woman in a white Pontiac Sunbird headed toward James Street.

A man in the other vehicle was ordered to the ground but instead jumped back into the gold Malibu and drove toward the Best Buy store, causing the detective to fall.

Two witnesses saw the man throw heroin and a gun out of the car window as he drove away, police said.

The officer was being evaluated in a hospital but was not seriously injured.

Kyle Lawson is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He canbe reached at 412-856-7400 or klawson@tribweb.com.

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