You may have heard that on early Saturday morning, one of our civilian employees was struck and seriously hurt at a DUI checkpoint. I wanted to give you an update on how he's doing and say that we're still looking for the suspect, so if you have any information, please call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
The checkpoint was set up in the 7600 block of Troost with KCPD and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. About 2:18 a.m. June 11, an officer contacted the occupant of a dark-colored Dodge car and asked to see his license. The suspect immediately accelerated, pulled out of line and struck one of our Fleet Operations Unit technicians. Fleet techs assist at DUI checkpoints by keeping the Mobile DUI Enforcement Center and prisoner buses up and running by maintaining equipment like generators. They also help by parking the cars of DUI suspects.
After being hit, the Fleet Ops technician, a man in his mid-30s, clung to the hood of the car until he was thrown off about six blocks later in the 8200 block of Troost. He suffered serious injuries to his leg and is undergoing surgery, but is doing very well considering the circumstances.
Police fired shots at the fleeing car and attempted to pursue it, but it eluded them. They do not know if any suspect was hit.
Just before 10 a.m. Saturday, police found a vehicle abandoned in the 200 block of W. Bannister. They believe it was the car that assaulted the KCPD employee at the DUI checkpoint.
We are continuing to investigate this case, and the Fleet Operations Technician is continuing to recover. We are very thankful that he could be out of the hospital as early as this week. Please call 816-474-TIPS (8477) if you have any information about this incident.
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