Clawson police seeing rise in drunk driving as officer narrowly avoids crash

Police say driver nearly hits officer on Crooks Road Wednesday morning

CLAWSON, Mich. – Police in Clawson said drunk driving has gotten out of control.

Clawson police said one of its officers was almost involved in a crash with a drunk driver early Wednesday morning.

The officer was on Crooks Road at about 2:30 a.m. on July 28 when he turned around after receiving a call. Dashcam video shows him turning around and faced with a wrong-way driver coming directly at him. The driver then maneuvered around him.

“It makes you cringe,” said Clawson police Sgt. Dave Scott.

Scott said the officer is OK. He pulled over the driver, who police said had a .12 blood alcohol level.

Police said they are seeing more drunk drivers on the road.

Another driver recently slammed into a DTE truck with workers nearby trying to restore power from storms. Police said no one was hurt and that driver was arrested.

“People are wanting to get out, a lot of people have been cooped up for over a year. They want to get out and have some fun. But you have to remember to do it safely,” Scott said.

Officials are calling the driver and officer from Wednesday’s incident fortunate.

“The officer got lucky, the driver got lucky. Fortunately, the sergeant was there to make the stop and get her off the road,” Scott said.

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Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.