GARDEN CITY - A Garden City police officer escaped serious injuries on Monday after authorities said he was hit by a suspect who was found passed out - along with his passenger - in a running vehicle.
Police said they were called at around 4:25 p.m. to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of a business, which was open, in the 8100 Block of Chinden Boulevard. The person who called in the report told dispatchers that the two people in the vehicle appeared to be passed out.
Officers arrived and the male driver and female passenger in the front seat of a Jeep Cherokee unresponsive - but the engine was running and the vehicle was in drive.
For the safety of the occupants and others in the area, police positioned vehicles in front of and behind the Jeep to keep it from moving.
Officers were unable to awaken the driver and his passenger, so they opened the passenger-side door. The driver - Alexander J. Flink, 25, of Garden City - eventually woke up, and police said he tried to flee after he saw the officers.
Police said Flink put the Jeep in reverse and ran ito the police vehicle behind him, also striking an officer with the front passenger door of the Jeep - which was open. The officer who was hit didn't suffer any serious injuries.
After the crash, police said Flink and his passenger - 27-year-old Christina A. Bergstrom of Nampa - physically resisted officers but were arrested without injury.
“This was an extremely dangerous situation that could have easily resulted in citizens, officers, or the suspects being seriously injured.," Garden City Police Chief Rick Allen said in a news release "The officers on scene did an excellent job boxing the vehicle in prior to contacting and waking the occupants. If it was not for the patrol vehicles parked in front and behind the Jeep, we believe that one of our officers would have been seriously injured.
"Based on evidence located at the scene and the follow-up investigation, we have reason to believe both Flink and Bergstrom were under the influence of illegal narcotics (opioids) which is likely why they were passed while the engine was running and the car was in gear. This is yet another example of the serious impact that opiates our having on our communities.”
Flink and Bergstrom were booked into the Ada County Jail on multiple charges.
