An off-duty S.C. Highway Patrol trooper who tried intervening in a domestic assault at a Rock Hill gas station Sunday was briefly dragged by a car after his hand became stuck in the driver’s side door. He pulled himself free after he hopped onto one of the vehicle’s running boards, police told the Rock Hill Herald reports.

Authorities are searching for the two suspects who jumped into the sport utility vehicle and took off while the trooper tried calling for police backup.

At about 4:30 p.m., Lance Cpl. Michael Shank, 39, was at the Murphy Express gas station off S.C. 161 when he witnessed a fight between a man, possibly in his early 20s and about 165 pounds, and a woman, possibly in her late 30s or early 40s with long blond hair, according to a Rock Hill Police report. The man, police reported, was hitting the woman.

Shank, who was dressed in civilian clothes, identified himself as a police officer and told the man to stay away from the woman, the report states. The man stood by the back of the car while Shank began using his cell phone to call for assistance from on-duty officers. The suspect continued to move around and eventually sat down in the SUV’s passenger seat. The victim sat in the driver’s seat, the report states, and turned on the ignition.