Two Dallas police officers were hospitalized Tuesday morning after an alleged drunken driver crashed into a construction site early Tuesday morning, authorities say.
Maurice Hooker, 28, was arrested in connection with the incident, Dallas police said.
At about 2 a.m., a Dallas police officer heading southbound on Interstate 35E was passed by a speeding sedan near Empire Central Drive, said DeMarquis Black, police spokesman. The officer began following the vehicle as it neared a construction zone.
An off-duty officer in a marked squad car with its lights on was trying to shut down the right lane of the interstate when his vehicle was rear-ended by the speeding driver, which was then struck by the police car that had been chasing it, said Black.
A third Dallas police vehicle and a construction vehicle in the work zone were also damaged.
Two officers involved in the crash, the suspected drunken driver and a passenger in the sedan were all hospitalized with injuries not considered life-threatening, Black said.
Black said investigators were preparing a warrant for a blood draw from Hooker and later charged him with driving while intoxicated and unlawfully carrying a handgun. According to jail records, Hooker was freed after posting bond of $1,500.
The investigation into the crash is ongoing, police said.
