Man accused of driving into officers at Phoenix QuikTrip pleads not guilty

The man accused of attempted murder of three police officers at a Phoenix QuickTrip pleaded not guilty at an arraignment hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court Thursday.

Marc LaQuon Payne, 44 was held on suspicion of running his car into three officers standing outside the convenience store on Sept 14, court documents said. Payne made an initial court appearance but was unable to appear at an earlier status conference hearing because he had been hospitalized.

One of the officers thrown into the air after being hit by the accelerating car was a 33-year old on his first day of duty; the other officer struck, a sergeant, suffered a broken leg and injured ankle, court documents said. The third jumped out of the way but was injured in a struggle to arrest the driver, documents said.

MORE: Man accused of driving into officers at Phoenix QuikTrip is hospitalized

Footage from the convenience store showed a car backing into a parking space, then pulling out after a couple of minutes, rounding the parking lot and accelerating into the officers and through the front window of the store.

Police said that Payne was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Payne, who was represented by public defender Jamie Jackson, was scheduled to return to court for an initial pretrial conference on Nov. 14 and another court appearance on Dec. 14.