Bellaire police officer OK after suspected DWI driver crashes into patrol car, officials say

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Bellaire police officer suffered a minor head injury after a suspected DWI driver crashed into his patrol car on the West Loop South on Friday morning.

The Bellaire Police Department said Officer William Walker was helping a motorist who ran out of gas at about 1:30 a.m. when a Ford van slammed into his patrol unit.

Investigators said that the officer's marked patrol car had its overhead emergency lighting activated and was parked on the shoulder at the time of the incident.

"It pitched the vehicle back about 38 feet. The smack was that hard," Bellaire Police Chief Onesimo Lopez said. "You are driving a three to four-thousand-pound missile down the freeway. That's ultimately what this vehicle was. It was a missile that hit our car."

Officers believe that the suspect driving the van was intoxicated. He was taken into custody and charged with a DWI.

Records show that the driver was on probation for a 2022 DWI and has five prior charges related to DWI convictions.

The police department said Walker thankfully sustained only a minor head injury.

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