Man fled to Chicago after hit-and-run that seriously hurt Hollywood cop: police

A Hollywood police officer was seriously injured last month after a man driving at over 100 miles per hour struck his patrol car before running off, authorities say.

Police say the man, Artiom Echiusciu, was found in Chicago and taken into custody on Wednesday.

On May 20, the officer was traveling north on North Ocean Drive near Hollywood Boulevard when Echiusciu, who was driving a BMW, crossed the median and struck the officer’s car, police say.

The crash sent the officer to a hospital with “serious but non-life-threatening injuries,” Hollywood Police Department spokeswoman Deanna Bettineschi wrote in a Thursday news release.

After running away from the crash site, police say, Echiusciu took a Lyft to get away from the area. He eventually made his way to Chicago.

Hollywood police worked with the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force to take Echiusciu into custody on Wednesday.

Police say he was “residing in the United States illegally from Russia.”

Echiusciu awaits extradition to Broward County, where he will be charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury, reckless driving causing serious bodily injury, reckless driving causing property damage, driving while license suspended, leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage and failure to register a motor vehicle.