FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - A wrong-way driver with her two-year-old daughter in her vehicle collided with a DPS trooper on the I-40 earlier this month.
The incident happened on Nov. 17, along I-40 near Flagstaff.
Around 3:30 p.m. DPS started to receive reports of a reckless driver in the area. DPS says they attempted to pull the driver over, but the driver fled and began driving wrong-way on the I-40.
A DPS sergeant entered the westbound lanes of I-40 where the driver was going the wrong-way and began stopping traffic with a traffic break. As the driver approached, she struck the stopped DPS sergeant’s vehicle head-on.
Another motorist captured video of the crash, which can be seen in the player above.
“The video taken by another motorist, whose life may have been saved by the actions of this heroic sergeant, tells the true story of what happened. Sadly, it’s a stark reminder of the risks that impaired drivers pose to the public and to our troopers, who selflessly put themselves in harm’s way to stop them.” Said Col. Frank Milstead, Director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Both the sergeant and the suspect, 32-year-old Patricia Carvalho, were hospitalized for non-life threatening injuries.
Carvalho’s two-year-old daughter was in the back seat of her car at the time of the crash and did not suffer any major physical injuries.
Carvalho has since been arrested and charged with attempted 2nd-degree homicide, aggravated assault, endangerment, aggravated DUI and child abuse.
Carvalho’s two-year-old daughter was placed in the custody of the Arizona Department of Child Services.
