Driver arrested after he allegedly runs into Cobb officer

Rafael Alberto Diaz-Brito (Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office)

Rafael Alberto Diaz-Brito (Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office)

A Woodstock man was charged with aggravated assault after he allegedly accelerated his SUV and hit a Cobb County officer Friday night, police said.

The unidentified officer — who was treated and released from a local hospital — was thrown onto the hood of the 2001 Nissan Pathfinder and then to the ground as the driver, identified as Rafael Alberto Diaz-Brito, 41, drove away on I-575 South near the Barrett Parkway overpass in Kennesaw, Sgt. Dana Pierce said.

The officer fired his weapon as the driver headed south on I-575, police said. Diaz-Brito was eventually stopped on Cobb Parkway at the Canton Connector and arrested by another Cobb officer.

Neither the driver nor his passenger, who was not identified, was injured by the officer’s shots, Pierce said.

The suspect was initially stopped by police because he did not follow the traffic direction of another officer at a nearby crash site, Pierce said.

Diaz-Brito is being held at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and is also charged with fleeing and attempting to elude arrest and other related traffic charges, police said.

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