Valley cab driver accused of dragging Sheriff's deputy speaks out

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - A Valley cab driver says he's not to blame for an incident that left a Sheriff's deputy injured Friday night.

According to 36-year-old Jeremy Jensen, he needed a fare so he parked his cab in front of the Scottsdale night club Myst in the hopes someone there would want a ride.

"Nobody was in front of Myst so I parked and got out," said Jensen.  "I was playing on my phone when two gentlemen told me to move."

Those gentlemen, Jensen would later found out, were off-duty Sheriff's deputies working the club's security.

Jeremy, they informed him, had parked his cab illegally.

"One of the guys kept running his mouth, 'Do you really think you can park here? Who do you think you are? Are you someone special?' I said 'Go to hell' and drove off," said Jensen.

At that point, Jensen says one of the men reached inside his cab and tried to pull him out.

Jensen gunned it and ended up dragging the deputy more than 100 feet down the road.

"If you are a police officer, you don't mess with people in a moving vehicle," said Jensen.  "Once that vehicle is moving, you get in your car and pull me over.  You don't rip people out of a moving vehicle."

A Scottsdale police officer stopped Jensen about a half a mile away and arrested him for aggravated assault on a police officer, something he does regret.

"I am sorry I injured an officer," said Jensen.  "My father was Captain of Police in Utah."

But Jensen says the man didn't have a uniform on and never identified himself as a deputy.

For that reason, Jensen plans to plead not guilty and fight the charges in court.

"I will not go down for this," said Jensen.  "I am 100 percent innocent. The only think I'm guilty of is escaping a psycho."

Scottsdale Police say the deputy was in uniform and identified himself as law enforcement.

He suffered road rash and needed stitches.

Jensen is due back in court later this month.