Taunton man accused of repeatedly driving his car into patrol cars in Weymouth held without bail – Boston 25 News

QUINCY, Massachusetts – A Taunton man was ordered held without bail Monday on charges he violently drove a Mercedes Benz into a patrol car in Weymouth, led police on a dangerous chase and spit on officers over the weekend.

DJeff Josa, 29, repeatedly bobbed his head up and down, jerked it from side to side, grinned and at times appeared to dance as a prosecutor outlined the numerous charges against him at his arraignment in Quincy District Court.

A judge ordered Josa held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing Thursday. He pleaded not guilty to numerous charges, including five counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, three counts of intentional damage to a motor vehicle and one count each of resisting arrest, failure to stop for police, reckless driving, leaving the scene of property damage, disregard for roadway markings and disorderly conduct.

Surveillance camera footage captured the chaotic scene in which officers swerved to avoid the Mercedes and drew their service weapons in front of shops on Broad Street on Sunday for their own protection.

On Sunday, at 4:30 p.m., police received a 911 call reporting a man jumping around, singing to himself and acting very strangely in front of the Lincoln Square Laundromat at 69 Broad Street.

When officers arrived, they found the man, later identified as Josa, behaving erratically. A bystander told police that Josa was “yelling profanities, hitting the machines and acting very erratically,” their report said.

Officers asked Josa to speak to them outside, and Josa “appeared very agitated as he was talking very quickly, was slightly argumentative, and was sweating heavily,” police said.

Josa lunged at a police officer, then walked away and began “screaming at the top of his lungs and engaging in tumultuous behavior that served no purpose,” police said.

Concerned for his well-being, police called an ambulance to examine him.

Then Josa got into a grey Mercedes-Benz 2019.

Josa ignored the police officers' request to get out of the Mercedes, “put the car in reverse, jerked the steering wheel to the right and reversed,” almost hitting a police officer who had swerved to avoid the Mercedes, police said.

Josa stepped on the gas, accelerated in reverse and crashed into a patrol car.

Josa ignored the police's request to stop, drove about 9 meters further, put the car in reverse again and “violently” crashed into the same patrol car a second and then a third time “at high speed,” police said.

“Djeff intentionally attempted to harm the officers present,” police said. “Djeff's weapon of choice during this incident was his motor vehicle.”

“At this point, it was obvious that Djeff had reached the limit of using deadly force and was actively attempting to harm the officers with his vehicle,” police said.

Officers, with their service weapons drawn, “continuously” ordered him to get out of the Mercedes. He drove up and confronted all officers at the scene, and “officers moved out of the way and took cover from the vehicle while ordering him to stop the vehicle,” police said.

Josa collided with another patrol car, then drove over a curb and drove onto Washington Street. Police pursued him.

Josa “failed to maintain his lane and drove into oncoming traffic,” police wrote. “It was obvious that Djeff intended to drive recklessly and had complete disregard for the safety of others.”

The Mercedes drove about 180 meters south on Route 3 before it skidded and crashed into the trees, police said.

When an attempt was made to arrest him, Josa began to “thrash violently” and spat at several officers, police said.

An ambulance arrived to take Josa to a nearby hospital for examination.

He became “so violent towards the emergency services” that a police officer and two firefighters had to stay in the back of the ambulance to transport him away, police said.

This is a developing story. Check back later for updates as more information becomes available.

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