Accident Scene, WFAA Photo
Saturday morning around 2 am in North Oak Cliff, a Dallas police officer’s squad car was struck by a Nissan Frontier pickup. The pickup driver failed to yield while turning left and hit the police car. The force of the accident caused the officer’s airbag to deploy, but fortunately his injuries were not serious. He was hospitalized that night for non-life-threatening injuries and observation. He was released from the hospital sometime Saturday afternoon. Police department spokeswoman Senior Cpl. Melinda Gutierrez told the media that the officer was, “doing well.”
As for the pickup driver, he was promptly arrested for driving while intoxicated. The unnamed driver was injured, but it is unclear how serious any of his injuries are. He was taken to a hospital for treatment. His name has not been released. So far articles from the WFAA and DallasCrimeBlog don’t indicate that the drive is being charged with assault of a public servant or other similar charges which sometimes result in accidents involving squad cars. From the limited information available, it appears that the drunk driver didn’t actively target a police officer.
