A Florida cop on DUI detail saw a car heading toward him — and it was a DUI suspect
A police officer narrowly escaped serious injury on the side of a road in Port St. Lucie, Florida, early Tuesday morning.
According to the Port St. Lucie Police Department’s Facebook page, at around 2:16 a.m., two officers were conducting a DUI investigation that ended in an arrest.
The officers were parked in the right southbound lane with the patrol car’s emergency lights on when they saw a vehicle traveling in the right southbound heading right toward them, according to the department.
Officer Austin Magura was standing in the road and about to get into his vehicle when he realized the vehicle was not slowing down or changing lanes, officials say. He “had no choice but to run” across the boulevard to avoid getting hit.
Then came the impact: The patrol car was struck on the driver’s side, where Magura had just been standing. The crash destroyed the side-view mirror as seen in one of the photos on the agency’s Facebook post.
After smashing up the police car, the suspect continued south at a “high rate of speed,” officials say.
Officers pursued the driver, later identified as Joseph Lara, and pulled him over. The 29-year-old was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. Lara was coming from a bar where he consumed several alcoholic beverages, the department noted.
The suspect’s car, a gray sedan, also had damage to the mirror.
“PSLPD is grateful that Officer Magura was able to narrowly escape this crash without injury,” said the post that added Magura’s partner, Sergeant [Erik] Levasseur, was also not hurt. “Please do not drink and drive.”
