A Smyrna Police Department officer and a man detained in his patrol car were injured Wednesday night after a drunk driver fleeing a traffic stop crashed into them, the Smyrna Police Department reported.
According to police, an officer on patrol noticed a red pickup truck “driving recklessly” on Route 13 near Cory Lane in Smyrna at 10:40 p.m. Suspecting that the driver was under the influence, police said the officer tried to pull the pickup truck over.
The driver, 62-year-old Paul Reed of Smyrna, continued driving northbound and “side-swiped” another car near Mill Street, police reported. Reed continued towards Mount Vernon Street, where another Smyrna Police Department officer was pulled over on the shoulder of the road. The officer had an “unrelated DUI suspect” in the back of the car, according to police.
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Reed drifted off Route 13 and hit the police car, pushing it off the shoulder and into a yard. The force sent Reed’s pickup truck into the median of Route 13, where police said he had to be extracted from inside.
The police officer in the patrol car was also trapped, and members of Citizen’s Hose Company had to rescue him. Police said that the man arrested in the back of the car was able to free himself from the wreckage.
All three men were taken to nearby hospitals with “minor injuries,” according to the Smyrna Police Department. Reed was charged with his fifth DUI, vehicular assault, reckless endangering and 30 other traffic offenses.
Send story tips or ideas to Hannah Edelman at hedelman@delawareonline.com. For more reporting, follow them on Twitter at @h_edelman.
