CALIFORNIA DEPUTY HIT BY DRUNK DRIVER RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL

A sheriff’s deputy who was hit by a woman driving under the influence of alcohol at about 10 p.m. Saturday was released from the hospital and is doing well, said Sgt. LeRoy Sapp of Adelanto station. The incident occurred near the intersection of Palmdale Road and Highway 395.

Deputy Roosevelt Dutra of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Adelanto station was released from Loma Linda University Medical Center with no major injuries, according to a press release. Meanwhile, Valinda Crockett, 51, of Adelanto was booked at West Valley Detention Center on a felony charge of causing injuries while driving under the influence of alcohol.

A traffic stop began the chain of events Saturday night, which ultimately involved two drunk drivers. Dutra had just completed the traffic enforcement stop on the westbound shoulder of Palmdale Road and was approaching the driver’s door of his vehicle, when Crockett struck Dutra and his vehicle with her Honda Odyssey, according to sheriff’s deputies.

Crockett had been traveling westbound on Palmdale Road, and her vehicle stopped when it hit a fire hydrant about 200 feet past Dutra’s vehicle. Dutra was airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center, and Crockett was taken by ambulance to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center with a complaint of pain in her chest, according to sheriff’s deputies.

While deputies were investigating, another vehicle drove past barricades and into the scene of the collision, according to sheriff’s deputies. They stopped the vehicle and its driver, Mark Diaz, 46, of Adelanto, was determined to be driving under the influence of alcohol. Diaz was arrested and booked into the Victorville Jail.