LITTLE ROCK — A Little Rock police officer has been taken to the hospital after being knocked to the ground Monday by a vehicle at a gas station in southwest Little Rock.
Little Rock Police Department Sgt. Cassandra Davis said it happened about noon at the Valero station at Baseline and Stagecoach roads. Davis said the officer was working an accident in the area when she received word about a shoplifting suspect at the gas station.
The officer, whose name has not been released, pulled around to the front of the business, got out of her patrol car and approached the suspect vehicle. Davis said the vehicle's door was open, and it continued to back up as she approached it, knocking her to the ground.
Davis said the officer suffered a concussion when her head hit the pavement.
The vehicle, a Honda Accord, fled the scene, but police located it at a gas station near Interstate 30 and Scott Hamilton Drive. The driver, who Davis said appeared to be about 20 years old and intoxicated, was taken into custody.
The initial report of the incident came when an employee of the business used the officer's police radio to alert authorities what happened.
"Until you get to the scene and find out what is going on, when you hear an officer down or you hear a civilian getting on an officer's radio, there's always some concern or alarm," Davis said at the scene.
Police initially said the officer was hit while working an accident.
