Park City police car rammed; officer injured

A Park City police officer was injured early Saturday morning when his patrol car was rammed by a man angry that a woman had been stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence.

The incident began shortly after 2:30 a.m. when two officers responding to the report of a disturbance stopped the car of a woman involved in the disturbance, Park City police Lt. Hobert Capps said. A short time later, a man drove up to the location and demanded that the officers release the woman to him.

He threw an object at the officers, prompting one of them to fire his Taser, a post on the police department’s Facebook page stated. The man sped off in his pickup, with one of the officers pursuing him for a handful of blocks, Capps said.

At one point, the suspect drove his pickup through a yard, then made a U-turn and drove toward the officer’s patrol car. The officer swerved left to avoid a head-on collision, Capps said. The pickup rammed the patrol car on the passenger side just before 3 a.m. in the 6400 block of Northeast Parkview, heavily damaging and disabling both vehicles.

The suspect then ran from the scene, but the officer followed and used his Taser, Capps said. A local resident came out and helped the officer take the suspect into custody.

The officer was treated and released from Via Christi Hospital St. Francis for injuries suffered when his patrol car was rammed, Capps said.

The suspect was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on suspicion of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, misdemeanor battery on a law enforcement officer, and felony fleeing and attempting to elude, according to the Facebook post.

The woman was arrested by the second officer and placed in the back of a patrol car, the post stated.

She was booked into jail on suspicion of DUI and may face other charges as well.

This story was originally published August 27, 2016 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Park City police car rammed; officer injured."