Police officer dragged in suspect’s getaway car during Antioch robbery response

Surveillance video and body-worn camera footage show how a robbery call at a FoodMaxx in Antioch spiraled into a fast-moving, high-risk struggle that left Officer Travis Donaldson clinging to a suspect’s getaway car as it tore through city streets.

The incident began at about 5:16 a.m. on February 20, 2026, in the 4500 block of Lone Tree Way, after a caller reported that one of the robbery suspects had a firearm and had threatened him. Police say the suspect vehicle backed into the store’s front glass doors before officers arrived, and three men entered the FoodMaxx. Two suspects fled on foot, while a third, later identified by police as 23-year-old Dominick DeSouza, allegedly rammed the SUV into an occupied patrol car.

What followed raised immediate officer-safety questions. Police say Donaldson came into contact with DeSouza during the confrontation, a physical struggle began, and Donaldson was pulled into the vehicle as it drove away. He ended up in the passenger seat while DeSouza continued driving recklessly, striking both a patrol car and a nearby store. The vehicle traveled about two miles with Donaldson trapped inside, according to reporting based on the released video.

Donaldson repeatedly ordered DeSouza to stop and tried to put the vehicle in neutral, police said. When the SUV kept moving at a high rate of speed, Donaldson fired his service weapon, striking DeSouza in the leg. DeSouza then got out of the vehicle, fled on foot, and was arrested a short time later after crashing near Southwood Way and Field Brook Court. No other injuries were reported.

Police said DeSouza suffered non-life-threatening injuries and Donaldson suffered minor injuries. The Antioch Police Department released the footage on April 23 and April 24, saying it wanted to be open with the community even as the case remained under investigation. The officers involved were placed on paid administrative leave under department policy.

The incident is now being investigated by Antioch police and the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office under the county’s Law Enforcement Involved Fatal Incident Protocol. Contra Costa County prosecutors have charged DeSouza with kidnapping, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon upon a police officer, grand theft, unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle, and burglary-related counts. The case underscores how quickly a robbery response can turn into a mobile confrontation, where a suspect’s vehicle becomes both an escape route and a weapon against officers on scene.