Video: Arizona Officer Killed in Wrong-Way Driver Collision
A driver who traveled more than 35 miles on the wrong side of a divided highway crashed into a Mesa, Ariz., police officer on Interstate 10 early this morning. Both drivers were killed.
Photo: Mesa Police Department
A Mesa, Arizona, police officer traveling home from his shift, was killed this morning after being struck by a wrong-way driver.
DPS spokesman Carrick Cook told Police Magazine this morning that the suspect was driving the wrong way on the westbound ramp to US 60 in Tempe when he crashed into the officer's vehicle on Monday morning.
Cook said 911 calls began coming into the agency's dispatch center at about 12:30 a.m., reporting a wrong-way driver on a north Phoenix freeway. On State Route 51, the driver continued southbound in the northbound lanes. An Arizona Department of Public Safety officer attempted to interdict the vehicle, but was unsuccessful.
The driver went onto Interstate 10 going the wrong way. While the suspect was driving the wrong way on the westbound ramp to US 60, he crashed into the officer's vehicle.
Cook confirmed that the suspect driver was killed upon impact.
Mesa Police have identified the officer as Brandon Mendoza. He was transported to a local hospital, where he died about four hours after the crash.
Cook said that it appears as though the officer had no chance to brake or evade before crashing into the oncoming car at freeway speeds.
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