Police: Drunken Driver Crashes Into Officer's Cruiser During Traffic Stop

A drunken driving crash involving a police officer is raising new questions about officers' safety.

Officials said a police cruiser was struck in Somerset Borough by a driver who is accused of being seriously under the influence.

Officer Dave Deist had pulled a car over on West Main Street late Tuesday afternoon when a Chevy Cavalier slammed into the back of the police cruiser. Officials said the collision caused the cruiser to lunge about 15 feet forward, right in the path of Diest and the driver and passenger inside the stopped vehicle.

Officials said had Diest been inside the car, he could have been seriously injured. The repair bill for the cruiser is estimated to be in the thousands.

Of the officers who died in the line of duty, about half of those are killed in crashes. Nearly one in three of those deaths involve being struck by another vehicle during a traffic stop.

Police said Marte Urban, 50, was driving the vehicle that struck Diest's cruiser. Blood alcohol tests shows she was driving under the influence more than four times more than the legal limit. Officials said to reach a blood alcohol content of .33, a 140-pound woman would have to drink more than nine alcoholic beverages in an hour.