A Perry Police Department patrol vehicle was rear ended in the 1500 block of Willis Avenue Monday about 6:45 p.m. while responding to a report of a man lying unresponsive on the sidewalk.
Brian Weltzin, 22, of Polk City was arrested on a charge of first-offense public intoxication after he was found “laying in the sidewalk at Sixth and Willis,” said Perry Police Department Sgt. Matt Aswegan.
“The person was found to be intoxicated, suspected through drugs and alcohol, and he was treated at the Dallas County Hospital,” Aswegan said.
The emergency response was complicated by a non-injury accident involving a passing motorist whose vehicle struck the rear of the police patrol car.
“As the officer arrived on scene, he was rear ended by a vehicle that was eatsbound on Willis Avenue,” Aswegan said. “There was some miscommunication or misunderstanding about the situation” involving the passing motorist that “caused him to leave the scene” after striking the police patrol car.
“We eventually located him,” Aswegan said, “and he was cooperative.”
The collision was investigated by the Dallas County Sheriff’s office, a common practice in agency-involved incidents, according to Dallas County Chief Deputy Sheriff Adam Infante.
“We want somebody independent of the situation to evaluate it,” Infante said, “in order to take all the bias out of it.”
According to the sheriff’s report, Perry Police Department Officer Caleb Wallace of Perry was responding to a call with his lights and siren on and came up behind a vehicle that was not yielding to his lights and siren. Wallace overtook the vehicle and then got back in his lane.
“This person didn’t immediately get out of the way,” Infante said, “so the officer went around him and stopped to deal with the original call. Then the other car ran into the back of him and kept on going. Our deputy finally caught up with the person who took off and cited him for it.”
The driver of the vehicle, Anibal Calderon-Castillo, 39, of Perry was issued a citation for leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a driver’s license. Calderon-Castillo was also given a warning for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.
“He said he thought the officer was busy with the other situation, so that’s why he left,” Infante said.
Damage to Calderon-Castillo’s vehicle was estimated at $1,500. The was no estimate provided of damage to the Perry Police Department vehicle.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
