Deputy hurt when suspected DUI driver hit patrol car near Derby, Sheriff’s Office says
Authorities say a Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy helping to direct traffic around a crash early Monday was hurt when a driver suspected of being under the influence hit his patrol car.
The 26-year-old deputy was in the patrol car, helping with traffic control at the intersection of 47th Street South and K-15 Highway when the suspected impaired driver ran into him around 2:46 a.m., the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The deputy suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
“Preliminary investigation indicates the deputy was seated inside a marked patrol vehicle with emergency lights activated when a dark blue Ford Escape traveling northbound on K-15 struck the passenger side rear of the patrol vehicle,” the release says.
“Deputies suspected ... (the driver) was under the influence at the time.”
The driver, a 24-year-old Wichita man, was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail after a trip to the hospital, according to the release. He was jailed on suspicion of driving under the influence and aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer.
The Eagle does not name crime suspects unless they are formally charged in court.
A passenger in the Ford Escape wasn’t injured, the release says.
