Police Officers Speak Out After Dump Truck Driver Tries To Hit Them

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) -- Two Prince George's County officers who narrowly escaped death in a dump truck attack are speaking out. The driver behind the wheel of that vehicle is in police custody.

As Gigi Barnett reports, the department says the man has a history of mental illness.

"I knew something was wrong. You just had a feeling," said Officer Randy Launchman.

The instinct of danger was strong Wednesday morning for Prince County officers Launchman and Jeffrey Bragg. The two were standing outside their cruisers in a snow-covered shopping center parking lot when investigators say 31-year-old Gene Thomas Brandon Jr. drove up to them. He was angry.

"He started making an accusation that we had killed his brother, took his brother's life. We tried to explain to him that we didn't know what he was talking about," Launchman said.

So Launchman and Bragg tried to get the driver to move on.

"I said to him, `You're holding up traffic, sir. Have a nice day,'" Bragg said. "He said, `We're about to have a nice day.'"

Minutes later, Brandon came back, ramming his dump truck into their police cruisers, sending the officers running feet away for cover.

"A lot of thoughts were going through our heads at the time, but it happened so fast," Launchman said.

Investigators say Brandon has a history of mental illness. He's in custody, charged with two counts of attempted murder.

"Nothing points back to New York or Ferguson. This looks like an isolated incident with a person with a history of mental illness that hadn't taken their medicine," said Prince George's County Police Chief Mark Magaw.

For Officers Launchman and Bragg, they're relieved that the near miss is over.

"I just went home and I was just hugged my family and was loving my family as much as I could," Launchman said.

Although Brandon has a history of mental illness, investigators say the cause of his rampage is still not clear.

Investigators say while the officers had to run for safety, neither was injured and they are both back on the job.

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