Former Wichita officer found not guilty in injury crash

A terminated Wichita police officer fell into his courtroom seat Friday when the jury came back with a not-guilty verdict.

“He was relieved by that and his knees buckled,” attorney Jess Hoeme said about his client.

Former officer Samuel Dugo could’ve spent a few years in prison if convicted of aggravated battery in connection to a 2018 crash, Hoeme said. Dugo was responding to a burglary reported at 10:38 p.m. on March 16 when he slammed into a Ford Ranger driven by then-71-year-old Donald S. Clark. The force of the impact threw Clark through his windshield, leaving him with brain bleeding, broken ribs, neck fractures and a broken shoulder.

Law enforcement members and Clark were called as witnesses during the weeklong trial. Clark had little recollection of the wreck, Hoeme said.

Hoeme said the verdict shows jurors didn’t think Dugo acted outside of the Wichita Police Department protocols and that he did not consciously disregard the safety of others when responding to the burglary call.

“I serve to help law enforcement officers who are placed is such a precarious positions as (Dugo) was,” Hoeme said. “I also am relieved. I believe the verdict is just and appropriate.”

Wichita police previously said the Dugo was driving with his lights and sirens off, which violated department policy. The Police Department fired Dugo more than a year after the wreck after two internal investigations.

The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office also previously released information from the tracking system in Dugos’ Chevy Tahoe patrol vehicle.

The tracking system showed he was driving up to 100 mph on parts of Broadway south of 21st Street. One and a half seconds before hitting Clark’s pickup, an event data recorder on Dugo’s patrol car recorded him driving at 79 mph — more than 2 1/2 times the posted speed limit of 30.

Dugo was traveling south on Broadway when he hit Clark, who was headed west on on Pine Street.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said his office respects the jury’s verdict.

“The facts were not in dispute,” Bennett said in an email. “It was a question as to whether what happened was a crime or simply an accident.”

Contributing: Amy Renee Leiker of The Eagle