Unoccupied Sacramento sheriff’s vehicle rolls into deputy, suspect during altercation
A rolling, unoccupied Sacramento County sheriff’s patrol vehicle hit a deputy and a suspect Thursday afternoon in North Highlands as those two, along with another deputy, were fighting on the shoulder of Watt Avenue.
Both were treated at a hospital but neither suffered serious injuries, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The incident started around 3:30 p.m. when a man walking on Watt Avenue near Elkhorn Boulevard threw a “hard object” at a marked patrol vehicle occupied by two deputies, striking the windshield, according to the news release.
“A physical altercation began which led to both deputies and the subject fighting on the ground,” sheriff’s officials wrote. “As they struggled on the ground, the patrol vehicle began slowly rolling backwards towards them.
“One deputy was able to get off the ground and get inside the vehicle to stop it just as it collided with the other deputy, who turned in an attempt to hold it back as the suspect lay on the ground.”
The patrol vehicle then struck the suspect and one deputy at an unknown speed. Both were evaluated at a hospital. The Sheriff’s Office said both received “superficial abrasions,” but no broken bones or internal injuries.
The suspect, who was not identified in the news release, was cleared from the hospital and then booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail, on unspecified felony and misdemeanor charges “stemming from the initial contact,” along with a previously suspended parole hold.
The California Highway Patrol will investigate the vehicle collision. The Sheriff’s Office will also investigate, and its internal affairs division will investigate the circumstances that led to the patrol vehicle rolling unoccupied.
