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Wrong-way driver arrested on suspicion of DUI, police say

Posted at 7:34 PM, May 27, 2014
and last updated 2014-05-27 21:34:10-04

OREM, Utah -- A suspected drunk driver in Orem had a run-in with the law, literally.

Police say 24-year-old Eric Hidalgo smashed head-on into a police patrol car this weekend, while on his way to get pizza with his girlfriend.

The suspected drunk driver was supposed to turn along with traffic at State Street and 800 North -- but he didn’t make it around the median and ended up on the wrong side of the road.

“The driver was then ran through a field sobriety test, and our officers concluded that he was driving under the influence and arrested him on suspicion of DUI,” said Lt. Craig Martinez with Orem Police.

Hidalgo is charged with suspicion of DUI, driving the wrong way, leaving the scene of an accident, and driving with an open alcohol container of alcohol.

Martinez said the real irony is the suspect ran into the officer whose only job is alcohol enforcement.

“He's the officer to deals with our DUI violations, open containers, under aged drinking, things like that. So if there's one person you don't want to run into in Orem, when you are driving while impaired, it's Officer Norris.”

Nobody was hurt in the crash and the cars only had scratches on the bumpers.

But Orem Police say it could have ended much differently if the officer hadn't been in the right place at the right time.