Police officer hit by drunk driver in Vancouver

A pedestrian and a police officer are both recovering from injuries and several police cars are damaged, one severely, after a late night collision next to the Vancouver Police Department`s 312 Main Street station involving an alleged impaired driver.

At about 10:30 p.m. last night a pedestrian was walking out of the west lane of Main Street towards Cordova Street when he was suddenly struck by a car travelling east on East Cordova Street. The pedestrian, a 60 year old Vancouver resident, was knocked into a nearby parked car while the car that allegedly struck him continued eastbound into the 200 block East Cordova Street where it slammed into a row of three parked police cars.

The force of the collision caused a chain reaction resulting in the first parked police car hitting the police car parked in front of it which, in turn, hit the police car parked in front of it. This last police car was occupied by a police officer who was typing on the in-car laptop and unaware of the impending collision about to take place.

The officer in the parked car, despite suffering from back and neck injuries as a result of the collision, got out of the car and rushed to investigate and see if the driver of the vehicle was ok. The driver got out of the vehicle and other officers arrived shortly thereafter.

As a result of the investigation, a 36 year old Port Coquitlam man is now facing criminal impaired driving-related charges.

The police officer suffered back and neck soft tissue injuries and the pedestrian who was struck suffered scrapes to his hand and complained of abdominal pain. Both were examined by B.C. Ambulance personnel and released at the scene. The collision has also taken two unmarked police cars out of service, one with major damage, and the marked police car now has to be examined mechanically and have minor damage repaired before it can be driven again.