A Metro Police sergeant and a man under arrest for DUI escaped serious injury this morning when the marked police vehicle in which both were sitting was struck from behind by a Ford Escape SUV being driven by yet another suspected drunk driver.
Sergeant Craig Amabile stopped a Honda Accord at 3:25 a.m. on Murfreesboro Pike at Plus Park Boulevard for traveling without the headlights on and failure to stay in its lane. The driver, Fredy Raymundo-Garcia, 30, smelled of alcohol and admitted to drinking beer. After placing Raymundo-Garcia in the back seat of his police SUV (which had the blue lights activated), Sergeant Amabile got into the driver seat to continue the arrest process. It was then that a Ford Escape SUV being driven by John Buchanan, 71, hit the rear of the police vehicle. Buchanan smelled of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet.
Sergeant Amabile had back pain after the collision. Raymundo-Garcia was taken to a hospital to be checked for back and shoulder pain before he was booked on charges of DUI and driving without a license. Buchanan was booked on charges of DUI, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, aggravated assault against a first responder, open container violation, and resisting arrest.
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Fredy Raymundo-Garcia, 30
John Buchanan, 71