Driver charged with DUI after Las Vegas officer hurt

Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001 | 4:41 a.m.

A Las Vegas police officer was hospitalized Wednesday with a broken neck after a suspected drunken driver crashed into his patrol car on the shoulder of a freeway.

Officer Armando Leija was writing a summons for a driver in a black pickup truck when a white Ford Thunderbird plowed into him about 9:30 a.m. on Interstate 215 in the southeast part of the valley, Sgt. Curt Albert said.

Leija, a 21-year police veteran, was taken to University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

Lawrence Ransom Jr., 22, of Henderson, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, a felony. Police say Ransom was treated for a minor injury at UMC.

The driver of the pickup truck, Andrew Jennings, 22, of Las Vegas, was not hurt, Albert said.

Jennings was cooperating with crash investigators and Albert said he would not receive the summons for which he had been stopped.

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