By Bill Miller
DALLAS — A police officer was punched in the chest with a metal rod and another officer was hurt overnight when their patrol cars were involved in an accident with a man who was arrested for intoxication assault, police said.
The accident happened around midnight Thursday on South Westmoreland Road in the Oak Cliff area of south Dallas.
The two officers, who were in separate patrol cars, were ending their shifts and were southbound on Westmoreland Road, said Senior Cpl. Jerry Monreal, police spokesman.
A Chevrolet Tahoe, driven by a 30-year-old man, was northbound on Westmoreland, Monreal added.
“The driver of SUV tried to turn west on Burlingdell Avenue, but did not yield the right of way,” Monreal said.
One of the patrol cars collided with the SUV, Monreal said, and the officer in the other car swerved to avoid the wreck and crashed into a yard on Burlingdell.
That car collided with a metal fence, Monreal said.
“One of the rods penetrated the front windshield,” he added, “and struck the officer right in the chest area.”
The rod, however, may have been deflected by the officer’s protective vest, Monreal said.
Police arrested the driver of the SUV on one count of intoxication assault after they gave him a breath test.
The man and the two officers were taken to Methodist Medical Center, but the officer struck by the rod was “very lucky,” Monreal said, because it didn’t penetrate the vest.
“A rod coming straight into you -- that’s something we never see out there,” he said.
Copyright 2008 The Star-Telegram