Late last month in Spring Hill, a southern suburb of San Diego, a suspected drunk driver slammed into the back of another vehicle which was stopped at a stop light. The bad news for the driver was that the car he hit was a sheriff’s deputy’s squad car. The good news was that neither the deputy, nor his police dog, who was also riding in the vehicle, were seriously injured in the car accident.
The accident occurred around 8:30 on a Saturday night, when the driver failed to stop in time and smashed into the back of the police vehicle. The driver’s car overturned and California Highway Patrol officers arrested the driver on suspicion of drunk driving when they arrived at the scene of the accident.
The deputy did not have any serious injuries but was taken to the hospital complaining of pain from the jarring accident. The other police officer in the vehicle, the deputy’s canine partner, was not injured.
While the driver of the vehicle has not been charged or publicly identified, if they were in fact intoxicated it is very likely they will face serious charges as a result of the car accident. Drunk driving is a serious offense, and the criminal charges can be aggravated depending on the driver’s blood alcohol content and the damage and injury caused as a result of the drunk driving.
The deputy, who had to go to the hospital after being violently rear-ended, may be able to recover monetary damages for the injuries caused by the driver. Oftentimes car accidents may have lingering detrimental effects which may interfere with a person’s ability to work and quality of life, which is why it’s important to aggressively pursue the damages one is entitled to after a vehicle collision.
Source: fox5sandiego.com “Suspected drunk driver crashes into deputy’s car,” August 26, 2012