Lincoln Police say a wrong-way driver is in jail after striking an LPD cruiser around 12:15 Friday morning. Public information Manager Erika Thomas says a sergeant was driving westbound on ‘O’ Street in his marked police cruiser near the intersection of 33rd Street.
“19-year-old Caden Parham of Lincoln was driving eastbound in the westbound lanes,” Thomas says. “The sergeant stopped his cruiser and activated his overhead lights to alert Parham, who he witnessed on his phone.”
Thomas says his silver 2017 Ford Fusion collided head-on with the cruiser. “After the crash, he backed up and attempted to drive over the median but got stuck. The sergeant gave Parham verbal directions to get out of the vehicle.”
Arriving officers conducted a DUI investigation and Parham was ultimately arrested and and taken to the Lancaster County Jail for DUI, refusing to submit to a test, reckless driving and leaving an accident scene and failing to furnish information.
Thomas say the sergeant had a headache and neck pain from the crash but is expected to be okay. “We want to thank him for stepping up in this moment, putting himself in harm’s way which likely prevented other drivers from being injured in a collision,” Thomas says. “We know this crash could have been much worse and we are grateful the injuries to our sergeant were minor.