TO HEAR police tell it, Matthew Miller wasn't quite ready for the Bucks County Correctional Facility's work-release program.
The Bensalem man, 23, is accused of skipping out on the program yesterday, stabbing a Bensalem Township Police officer and stealing his patrol car along the way – all within an hour.
"This guy is nobody you want your daughter to bring home," Fred Harran, Bensalem's director of public safety, said yesterday. "Now, hopefully, he'll never see the light of day."
Miller – who has a lengthy criminal record including guilty pleas for theft and drug offenses – has been charged with attempted homicide of a police officer and related offenses, police said.
He's being held at the correctional facility in lieu of $5 million bail.
Just before 1 p.m. yesterday, Bensalem police were notified by the correctional facility that Miller had fled the work-release program, Harran said.
About a half-hour later, Officer Michael Jachimski, a six-year veteran of the department who also served a stint with city police, flagged Miller down as he was walking on Woodhaven Road near the Franklin Mills Mall.
Initially, Harran said, Miller was cooperative with Jachimski.
"But the sound of the ratchets on the handcuffs must have changed his mind," Harran added.
Miller allegedly pulled a knife from his pocket and started swinging at the cop. One of his blows made contact, striking Jachimski, 38, in the stomach.
The officer's ballistic vest took the brunt of the impact, Harran said.
In the chaos following the stabbing, Miller hopped into the nearby patrol car and sped off.
Minutes later, other officers found the vehicle abandoned on Knights Road near Fairdale Drive, in Northeast Philly. Miller, who was nearby, led the officers on a brief chase before he was nabbed at the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush, a nearby public school, Harran said.
Investigators recovered the knife allegedly used in the attack, but weren't sure how Miller had gotten his hands on it, Harran said.
Meanwhile, Jachimski was checked out by emergency medical personnel, who released him in stable condition.
Harran described the former Philly cop as being in good spirits despite the ordeal.
"This is an officer who gives 110 percent every day," Harran said. "He was just out doing his job, and he'll be back out doing it again soon."
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