Louisville, Kentucky: Officer Struck by DUI Driver While Taking Crash Report, Man Charged

A Louisville Metro Police officer who was taking a report on a minor crash Sunday evening was struck by a second driver who police say was drunk, and the man behind the wheel now faces a string of charges that includes assault on an officer.

What happened on Badger Avenue

Officers responded around 7 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, to a non-injury collision involving a single vehicle near South First Street and Badger Avenue, between the Beechmont and Southside neighborhoods and just west of Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, LMPD spokesperson Dwight Mitchell said. While one officer was taking the report, a driver in a second vehicle came through the scene and struck the officer and his car, according to the department. Court records say the impact knocked the officer to the ground.

Police say the second driver, Andrew Mapendo, 42, of Louisville, did not see the officer. Mapendo stopped after the collision, and officers who arrested him believed he was intoxicated at the time, WDRB and WAVE reported.

The officer's condition

Emergency medical crews checked the officer at the scene. He was alert and conscious and was able to walk to the stretcher, the Courier Journal reported from court records. He was taken to UofL Hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, and police said he is expected to survive. The driver in the first, minor collision was not injured. LMPD has not released the injured officer's name.

The charges

Mapendo is charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, third degree assault, wanton endangerment, reckless driving and having no operator's license, with the Courier Journal reporting additional counts beyond the main charges. He was booked into Louisville Metro Department of Corrections, where online jail records showed him held on Monday morning. His arraignment was scheduled for Monday, November 2.

Third degree assault in Kentucky covers causing physical injury to a police officer who is acting in the line of duty, which is why a crash that injured an officer on a roadside report carries an assault count alongside the DUI and driving charges. Police have not said what speed Mapendo was traveling or whether the cruiser's emergency lights were active in a way that figures into the investigation, and the department has not announced any further findings.

What comes next

The case now moves to its first court hearing, where a judge will set the conditions of Mapendo's custody and the charges will be read on the record. Roadside crash scenes are a known risk for officers, who work feet from live traffic while they document a collision, and Sunday's scene drew two separate collisions to the same corner within the same hour. LMPD has not said when the injured officer will return to duty.