Monday, July 26, 2010

IMPD Officer Seriously Injured After Being Struck By Vehicle Driver By Sheriff's Employee

A 59-year-old employee of Marion Co. Sheriff Frank Anderson's office, Richard Rawley, has been charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and causing serious bodily injury after the vehicle he was driving struck an IMPD officer patrolling traffic near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway following the conclusion of the Brickyard 400 yesterday. Officer Travis Williams suffered serious injuries to both legs. WRTV reports:

Indianapolis police said Richard Rawley, 59, faces a felony charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a misdemeanor.


According to a police report, Rawley joked with an officer that he "stopped counting after college" when asked how many drinks he had that day, later admitting he had several beers.

Officer Travis Williams was working near 16th Street at Rochester Avenue just before 6 p.m. Sunday when he was struck by a Ford Ranger pickup driven by Rawley, police said.

Williams suffered severe injuries to both legs and was transported to Methodist Hospital in serious condition. His condition was upgraded on Monday to good.

Williams has been with the department since July 2009.

Police said Rawley's blood-alcohol level was 0.13 percent.

Other news reports suggest Rawley administers the McGruff  the Crime Dog campaign on behalf of the sheriff's office.

2 comments:

Indy4U2C said...

This is a typical Frank Anderson hire-on. Frank lowered the standard when he had police so bad that the City Council took the police department away from him.

Now Frank's department has these new-hires of a standard set so low, I bet that he recruits at the jail intake division from new arrestees....a sad situation!

Marycatherine Barton said...

Why blame Frank for Richard's driving drunk, in his own car, and on his own time. I feel really bad for Officer Williams, and hope he gets the best help possible. Of course, Rawley should be treated the same as any other defendant charged with this terrible crime.