Officer hospitalized after crash with suspected drunk driver on Highway 59
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Two crashes, two suspected drunk drivers.
Police officers said the violent collision between a pickup truck and two HPD cruisers on the Southwest Freeway could have been a lot worse.
Investigators said no officers were injured in the wreck that shut down Highway 59 southbound at Hillcroft for hours, but one officer was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
Houston police said the officer's injuries were believed to be minor after the crash.
The pickup driver was suspected for drunk driving and taken to the hospital for evaluation.
The highway was closed for more than nine hours this morning as investigators try to reconstruct two wrecks on the Southwest Freeway.
A witness told Eyewitness News the white Dodge Ram pickup came flying down the highway around 5 a.m., smashing into the two patrol vehicles.
The cruisers were being used to divert traffic off of the highway after an earlier crash involving a horse trailer.
In that wreck, a suspected drunk driver hit the trailer, which was carrying 11 horses.
Sadly, that trailer caught fire, killing three of the horses inside. The other eight animals were transported from the scene in another vehicle.
The drunk driving suspect in this incident was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Traffic cameras show a big mess for commuters this morning, so if you take this stretch of Highway 59 for church, brunch or other weekend plans, you will want to use the feeder road to get around the accident.
We hope to speak with police shortly and will bring you new details as they become available.
