Driver Accused of Hitting Officer Held in Italy
A man accused of hitting a Newport Beach police officer with his car and dragging her 70 feet was arrested in Italy on Thursday, police said.
Authorities said Jeffrey Wayne Minor, 30, of Hemet fled the United States in February after failing to appear at an Orange County court hearing on the assault charge.
Mark Geller of the Orange County district attorney’s office said the arrest was a carefully coordinated effort by Interpol, the FBI, the U.S. Justice Department and Newport Beach police.
Extradition proceedings are underway, Geller said, and because Minor entered Italy illegally using his brother’s passport, Italian authorities could send him back to the United States within a month.
Minor faces charges of felony assault hit-and-run involving Officer Kristen O’Donnell, who was dragged through a parking lot Dec. 20 after she had stopped Minor’s car. O’Donnell suffered minor cuts and bruises.
Before then, Geller said, Minor had been charged with felony drunk driving in Irvine and was on probation for a 1993 drunk driving manslaughter conviction.
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