An officer hit by a suspected DUI driver on Interstate 25 as he was arresting another suspected drunk driver suffered injuries that could be permanently disfiguring, police say.
Denver Officer Daniel Swint was seriously injured at about 4 a.m. Friday when his marked patrol car, with lights flashing, was rear-ended as he and an initial DUI suspect sat in the car.
Swint suffered a fractured jaw, a C-6 spinal cord fracture, and five broken ribs.
“These injuries caused a substantial risk of serious and permanent disfigurement,” according to an arrest affidavit.
Heidi Jewell, 28, was , I-25 near Park Avenue West, for investigation of vehicular assault after she crashed into the Denver police vehicle.
After taking roadside sobriety tests, which she failed, Jewell became uncooperative with police, the affidavit said.
Jewell refused to submit to “chemical testing” saying: “No, I want to talk to my lawyer,” according to the affidavit.
Investigators obtained a search warrant, signed by a judge, to take a blood sample from Jewell about two hours after the crash.
“Jewell was not cooperative and still tried to refuse the blood draw after she was told that a search warrant of her blood had been authorized,” the affidavit said. Three blood samples were drawn at Denver Health Medical Center between 5:52 and 7:50 a.m. Friday. The blood draw results are pending.
Jewell was arrested in 2009 in Tennessee on suspicion of DUI, police said, and she pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment in that case.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kierannicholson
