Man jailed after Henderson police officer injured by vehicle

Henderson police on Tuesday arrested a 27-year-old man on DUI and other charges after he allegedly hit a police vehicle and injured an officer who was investigating a separate crash.

Henderson Police Department spokesman Rod Pena said the officer was investigating a crash at Green Valley Parkway and Sunset Road that occurred about 8 a.m. The officer was sitting in his patrol vehicle with the emergency lights flashing and finishing an accident report when a 2018 Hyundai “slammed into the occupied police vehicle,” according to a statement from the department.

Before crashing into the police car at about 9 a.m., the Hyundai’s driver, 27-year-old Joseph Allen Smith, “drove around a disabled vehicle from the previous crash.”

“The force of the impact ejected the officer from his patrol vehicle,” the department said.

Smith was arrested on suspicion of DUI and failing to obey traffic control devices, jail records show. He was booked into the Henderson Detention Center.

Further information on the officer’s condition was not immediately available.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.