Little Rock patrolman hits, critically injures pedestrian

Officers blocked off part of Baseline Road after a pedestrian was hit by a police vehicle Tuesday night in Little Rock.
Officers blocked off part of Baseline Road after a pedestrian was hit by a police vehicle Tuesday night in Little Rock.

A Little Rock police officer driving a patrol vehicle hit a pedestrian in southwest Little Rock on Tuesday evening, a Police Department spokesman said.

Lt. Steve McClanahan said the officer was headed to the southwest patrol division substation at 7:34 p.m. when he hit a woman who was trying to cross Baseline Road.

The accident occurred in the 8800 block of Baseline Road near the Wal-Mart Supercenter south of Interstate 30.

The woman was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday night, McClanahan said. It was unclear whether the woman was in a crosswalk when she was hit.

At least one person witnessed the accident, McClanahan said.

[GALLERY: Click here for photos from the scene]

The officer, who was not identified Tuesday night, did not have his lights and sirens activated and was not responding to a call when the accident occurred, McClanahan said. He said the officer reportedly had a green light while driving through the intersection.

"He was just driving normally," he said.

More than an hour after the crash, McClanahan said the officer remained at the scene and would later undergo a breath test for alcohol and a drug screening, per department policy.

The officer driving the vehicle is a Spanish-speaking officer and has been with the department for about a year and a half, McClanahan said.

Accident investigators will remove the vehicle's data recorder and examine its contents, he said Tuesday night.

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They also will find out whether the accident was captured by the vehicle's dash camera, he said.

Per department policy, the officer will be put on administrative leave during an investigation, McClanahan said.

At the scene Tuesday night, cars rolled past a partially blocked intersection on Baseline Road. The patrol vehicle involved sat in the middle of an area blocked off by police tape while investigators took photographs of the scene.

Metro on 01/18/2017

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