Lowell officer resigns, DWI charge expected

Springdale pursues charges related to wreck

SPRINGDALE -- A Lowell police officer resigned Monday morning a little over a month after he had a wreck in his police cruiser in Springdale.

Alex Dominguez was a patrol officer with the Lowell Police Department when he was involved in the wreck in Springdale on June 17.

The Springdale Police Department will pursue misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated and careless and prohibited driving against Dominguez, said Lt. Scott Lewis, public information officer. Officers were in the process Monday of having an arrest warrant issued.

Springdale police received a toxicology report July 16 that showed prescription medication was present in Dominguez at the time of the wreck, Lewis said.

Dominguez resigned from the Lowell Police Department on Monday, said Lowell Police Chief Randy Harvey. If an officer in this situation didn't resign, the officer's employment would most likely be terminated, Harvey said.

Dominguez had been on paid administrative leave from June 18 until Monday morning, Harvey said.

The accident happened at 7:59 p.m. June 17 at the intersection of Quandt Avenue and Maple Drive. Dominguez, 44, was driving a Dodge Charger owned by the city of Lowell west on Quandt Avenue when the vehicle collided with a Buick LeSabre driven by Patricia Crawford, 48, of Springdale. The LeSabre was stopped on Maple Drive, pointing south, the report said.

Crawford wrote in her statement she pulled up to a stop sign, looked right and was hit by another vehicle.

Dominguez wrote in his statement that a woman was pulling out of a driveway. He wrote she pulled forward as he began to pass her, and her vehicle struck the front of his vehicle.

A witness, Herlinda Vela of 27C Applegate Drive, wrote in a statement about seeing a police car drive up onto a curb at Caudle Avenue and Applegate Drive, less than a mile from where the accident happened.

Dominguez lives at 64B Applegate Drive, according to the crash report. The apartment is one of two units managed by Springdale Housing Authority that are rent-free for police officers and security guards, said Debbie Bailey, executive director. The lease says he would have to continue employment with a police department or security agency to live in the unit.

Bailey said she was aware of the wreck but wasn't aware of his resignation Monday. She said authority staff will speak with Dominguez.

A telephone number to contact Dominguez couldn't be found, and Harvey declined to release it.

Dominguez was taken to Northwest Medical Center-Springdale after the accident, according to the report. Harvey said earlier this month he wasn't sure what type of injury Dominguez had, but Dominguez did not stay in the hospital overnight, he said.

The two vehicles involved in the accident each had an estimated $5,000 worth of damage, according to the report. Both vehicles were towed from the accident scene.

Harvey confirmed that Dominguez was driving a department cruiser.

NW News on 07/28/2015

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