Austin police officer disregards stop sign, hits motorcyclist

Austin - An Austin police officer who thought his car was idling drove through an intersection, disregarding a stop sign, and hit a motorcyclist who ended up in critical condition.

Austin police officer Damon Dunn was looking at his computer data while under the impression his cruiser was idling. Instead, dash camera video shows his car ran a stop sign at the intersection of Lamplight Village and Magazine Street in Austin, leaving a motorcyclist in critical condition. Police documents recently released show Dunn collided with motorcyclist Louis Olivier on May 29. Although the police car was only traveling at about 10 miles per hour, the camera video shows the APD car hitting Olivier broadside, with enough force to knock the motorcyclist out of his shoes and into the street. The 74 year-old Olivier was then rushed to University Medical Center at Breckenridge Hospital in critical condition. Garry Durante, a neighbor of Olivier’s, was out running his dog when he witnessed the Saturday accident. “I do remember seeing a motorcycle in the roadway,” Durante said. The police had the whole block, a city block of the neighborhood cordoned off,” he added. The incident has left many in the Austin community wondering whether the rules of the road that apply to citizens should be applied to emergency personnel as well, according to a report at KVUE News. Austin City Code Title 12-1-34, Item A addresses the controversial issue of electronic messaging while driving and reads: "A driver of a motor vehicle may not use a wireless communication device to view, send, or compose an electronic message or engage other application software while operating a motor vehicle." However, just below that, in Item C, the code reads: "This section does not apply to an operator of an authorized emergency vehicle using a wireless communication device while acting in an official capacity." "We are really, really tasking our work crews especially our police force, fire, EMS and some of those folks with delivering almost too much data at a time to pay attention," said Durante in the KVUE report. "So if we can learn from a minor to a relatively serious incident without a fatal injury then we have an opportunity and in this particular case it is a correctable opportunity and something we need to look at," he added. Olivier remains hospitalized at UMC but has been upgraded to good condition. Dunn, a 10-year APD veteran, returned to full duty several days after he caused the accident.