Suspected DUI driver reportedly runs red light, crashes into Bellingham police officer
A Bellingham Police officer suffered non-life-threatening injuries and a crime scene investigation truck was totaled after a driver, who is suspected to have been impaired, reportedly ran a red light early Saturday morning at the Barkley Boulevard-Orleans Street intersection and struck the officer’s vehicle.
The officer was treated for a laceration and a concussion at St. Joseph hospital and was released a few hours later, according to a department Facebook post.
The collision occurred at approximately 2:23 a.m. Dec. 5, according to the Washington State Patrol incident report.
Officer Richard K. Alves, 33, was driving the CSI vehicle northbound on Orleans approaching Barkley when a black 2001 Ford F150 pickup truck driven eastbound on Barkley by 18-year-old Black G. Horsch ran a read light and struck the front end of the Alves’ CSI truck, according to the report. Both trucks rotated and ended up stopped on the northeast corner of the intersection.
Horsch immediately ran away from the scene without checking on Alves or the 17-year-old male passenger in his own truck, who also was impaired, according to the Facebook post.
A K9 team was called to the scene, tracked and located Horsch, according to the post, which added that neither Horsch nor his passenger were injured in the incident.
Horsch was booked into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of DUI and hit and run, and jail records show he was released on personal recognizance Sunday morning.
“Needless to say the impact of driving drunk have far and wide reaching consequences,” the Facebook post read. “Thankfully there were no life-threatening injuries as a result of this completely avoidable collision.”
Alves is the second Bellingham Police officer to be injured in the line of duty in a week, according to the post. Another suffered a laceration and a concussion after he was hit with a large flashlight Nov. 27 while arresting a man who refused to leave St. Joseph hospital peacefully, Lt. Claudia Murphy reported to The Bellingham Herald in an email earlier in the week.
The officer in that incident is also recovering from his injuries, according to the Facebook post.
