Car crash on I-84 involving deputy patrol car lands driver with DUII charge

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – After a Jeep slammed into a Multnomah County deputy’s patrol car on Interstate 84 late Wednesday night, the driver was accused of drunk and careless driving.

According to law enforcement, a deputy had been conducting a traffic stop on the shoulder of eastbound I-84 near NE Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard when a 2018 Jeep Compass hit the patrol vehicle with the deputy still inside. Officials said the impact caused the Jeep to spin back onto the freeway.

Both the deputy and the Jeep’s driver were taken to the hospital without serious injuries, while I-84 was shut down “due to vehicles and debris strewn across the lanes of travel,” the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Investigators said they found evidence that the driver had been drunk at the time of the crash.

When he was released from the hospital, deputies booked him for DUII and cited him for failing to maintain lane, careless driving contributing to an accident, and failure to install an ignition interlock device.

The MSCO vehicle, a fully-marked Chevrolet Tahoe SUV, was left with “significant damage to the left rear corner,” officials said.