Missouri Officer Crashes into Wrong-Way Driver to Prevent Plummet Into River

Quick action by a tenacious Lake Ozark, MO, police officer likely helped prevent a motorist from driving off the Highway 54 median into the Osage River on Saturday Feb. 6.

According to the Lake Ozark Police Department, a call came in at 10:34 p.m. that a vehicle was traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of Highway 54.

When an officer who responded to the area saw the westbound vehicle coming around a curve in the eastbound lane, he activated emergency lights and siren and tried to evade the wrong-way vehicle. But the vehicle sideswiped the officer’s car, which spun around in the median.

The wrong-way vehicle continued westbound in the eastbound lanes before drifting off the road into the median. After regaining control of his car, the officer gave chase and saw the suspect vehicle was headed between the two Highway 54 bridges over the Osage River.

The officer was able to get in front of the suspect’s vehicle and block that car’s progress before it careened into the river, the Lake Expo reports.