A traffic stop went bad Saturday night in the 900 south alley of Des Moines Street.

Police stopped a vehicle for traffic violations at about 11:16 p.m. according to Assistant Chief Dave Hinton. There were several people in the vehicle, one of whom police identified as being wanted on an outstanding warrant for forgery, a Class D felony.

Raymond D. Cooper, 35, of Keokuk, was taken into custody on the warrant, cuffed and placed in the back seat of the squad car.

While the officer dealt with the occupants of the vehicle he had stopped on traffic violations, Cooper is alleged to have “shot his cuffs” to the front, according to Hinton. He said Cooper’s hands had been cuffed behind his back.

Cooper got into the front of the squad car and started to take off with the vehicle, according to Hinton.

“The officer tried to stop the squad car and was hanging out of the vehicle struggling with Cooper when the squad car hit the other vehicle (the one the officer had first stopped),” Hinton said. “During the confrontation, (Cooper) tried to take the officer’s weapon out of his holster.”

Hinton said the officer got the squad car stopped and several other officers at the scene helped get Cooper back in custody.

Cooper is being held at the Lee County Jail pending a court appearance on the following charges: assault while participating in a felony, a Class D felony; first-degree theft (the squad car), a Class C felony; attempting do disarm a police officer, a Class D felony; attempt to escape custody, a Class D felony; and driving under suspension, a serious misdemeanor.

If convicted of all charges, Cooper could face more than 30 years in a state correctional facility.

Hinton would not say this morning what the initial traffic violations were.