UPDATE: A Mississippi man has been booked with attempted murder following a crash on I-10 on Tuesday.
Tuesday afternoon, Duson Police reported that one of their officers was driving to Baton Rouge when another car, in which a former arrestee was riding, forced his cruiser into a wall near the Mississippi River Bridge.
Later Tuesday, West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's deputies reported that they had arrested John Cuevas, 42, of Madison, Ms., had been booked with attempted first-degree murder of a police officer, aggravated criminal damage to property and aggravated obstruction of a highway.
The accident happened around 11 a.m. on Tuesday, WBR deputies said.
"Preliminary investigation revealed that a moving vehicle intentionally struck a marked Duson Police Department unit while traveling side by side," a Facebook post by the sheriff's office says.
Deputies determiend the act was intentional, and took Cuevas, who was a front-seat passenger, into custody. He allegedly grabbed the steering wheel of the Land Rover SUV he was riding in and forced it into the Duson unit, deputies say.
Last night, Duson Police Chief Kip Judice issued an update on Sgt. Francis’ injuries.
"Sgt. Francis who was targeted by a mental patient passenger in a vehicle on I-10 in West Baton Rouge Parish earlier today has been released from Baton Rouge General Hospital and is resting at home."
ORIGINAL: A Duson Police officer was injured Tuesday afternoon while driving to Baton Rouge.
Sgt. Calvin Francis' cruiser was forced into a concrete wall at the base of the Mississippi River Bridge, a post by Duson Police states.
Francis was transported to a Baton Rouge hospital where he's listed in stable condition, the post says.
A passenger in the car that forced his cruiser into the wall had previously been arrested by Duson Police, "and the incident does not appear to be accidental."
The West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office will be conducting the investigation.
