Alleged Drug Dealer Assaulted County Cop, Police Say

An alleged drug dealer attacked a Camden County Police officer after a traffic stop in Camden’s Parkside neighborhood before being arrested on multiple charges Thursday, police said.

Perwitt Dootay, 32, tried to run from the scene when officers caught him near Louis and Sycamore streets with several bags of marijuana and jars of PCP around 5:30 p.m., police said, and attacked the officer during the chase.

“The perpetrator was driving through the city with a virtual pharmacy in his vehicle, and then had the audacity to assault one of our officers after being pulled over,” said Chief Scott Thomson. “The good news is we got the suspect and the wet off the streets, and our officer suffered some bumps and bruises, but is OK.”

Dootay was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of a controlled dangerous substance with the intent to distribute in a school zone, as well as aggravated assault of a police officer and resisting arrest, and was taken to the Camden County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

The drugs Dootay was allegedly carrying can be combined into what police refer to as “wet,” which was blamed for several high-profile murders in Camden last year, including one in which a man is alleged to have assaulted a child and killed her younger brother when he came to her defense, and a murder-suicide involving a mother and her toddler.