OKLAHOMA COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – Edmond Police have now identified the motorcycle officer who was critically injured during a police pursuit near Boulevard and Memorial just before 2 p.m. Friday afternoon.
This accident comes just two months after a crash claimed the life of Edmond Police Sergeant C.J. Nelson
Police said Sergeant Joseph Wells, a 16-year veteran of the Edmond Police Department, was assisting with a pursuit involving a person suspected of drunk driving who had caused multiple wrecks in the city limits of Edmond.
Authorities say the incident started as a reckless driver call that turned into a pursuit when the suspect abruptly made a U-turn and hit the officer head-on.
Police say 24-year-old Garrett Trammell was driving erratically and causing a string of wrecks throughout the city, and leading police on a chase that crossed into Oklahoma City limits.
“He hit several other vehicles as he was running from our officer,” said Edmond Police spokeswoman Emily Ward.
Ward said Trammel ended up on Boulevard in OKC, going southbound.
Investigators told KFOR that at some point during the pursuit, Trammell drove towards Sergeant Wells, who shot at the suspect before he was hit head-on as Trammel tried to make a U-turn.
“And that’s when he collided with our motorcycle officer. Our motorcycle officer was thrown into the ditch on the east side of the road,” said Ward, who said when officers first found Ward he was not responding but later opened his eyes as they began to move him from the ditch.
Paramedics rushed Sergeant Wells to the hospital, where he remains.
Trammell was not hit by the officer’s gunfire; police said he was also checked out and is being booked into the county jail on multiple charges.
Oklahoma City Police Department was also on scene and will lead the investigation, since the crash occurred in Oklahoma City.