The Associated Press
DALLAS (AP) -- A police officer and two other people remained hospitalized in serious condition early Monday from a crash investigators say was caused by a pickup truck driver suspected of drunken driving.
Officer Guadalupe Ortega was expected to undergo an MRI scan to determine the extent of her injuries, said Dallas police Sgt. Gil Cerda.
He said the pickup driver was among those in serious condition following the wreck early Sunday’. The truck struck Ortega’s squad car, where the officer was assisting motorists with a disabled car, and several people standing near it.
Three others were hurt in the accident, but their conditions were unknown, Cerda said. The names of the injured were not immediately available.
The northbound pickup swerved onto a grassy median, returned to the road and rear-ended the stationary squad car as Ortega was helping motorists along a northwest Dallas highway. Four people who were waiting by their car for a tow truck were also hit at 1:20 a.m. Sunday. Ortega was thrown into the back seat of the squad car and had to be cut out by firefighters.
“She really was very, very lucky,” Cerda told The Dallas Morning News in Monday’s editions. “She doesn’t have any paralysis. They’ll do the MRI to get a better diagnosis.”
Records show that Ortega was hired in 2002 and works in the northwest patrol division.
Dallas police Sgt. Paul Morris said Ortega’s neck may have been broken in the crash.
The 27-year-old suspect could face drunken driving and vehicular assault charges, Morris said. Any other charges will be determined as the investigation continues.