Wrong-way driver faces attempted homicide charge after DPS collision
Nov 30, 2018, 6:05 PM
PHOENIX — A woman was booked on multiple charges, including attempted homicide, aggravated DUI and child abuse, after driving the wrong way on Interstate 40 in northern Arizona and colliding with a police car two weeks ago.
Patricia Rose Carvalho, 32, of Los Ranchos, New Mexico, and an Arizona Department of Public Safety sergeant were injured and transported to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Carvalho’s 2-year-old daughter, who was in the backseat of the vehicle, was uninjured and placed in the custody of Arizona Department of Child Services.
After receiving reports on Nov. 17 of a reckless driver on I-40 near Flagstaff, a trooper tried to stop Carvalho’s vehicle, but she fled and began traveling east on westbound lanes.
A video taken by another driver shows the sergeant created a traffic break just before Carvalho struck his patrol car head-on.
“The video taken by another motorist, whose life may have been saved by the actions of this heroic sergeant, tells the true story of what happened,” Col. Frank Milstead, DPS director, said in a news release.
“Sadly, it’s a stark reminder of the risks that impaired drivers pose to the public and to our troopers, who selflessly put themselves in harm’s way to stop them,” he said.
