Officer and K9 injured in accident in Pascagoula

It was a scary New Year’s Eve for the Pascagoula Police Department after two of their officers were involved in a serious accident.

A police officer and his K9 partner are recovering after being hit by a drunk driver while on patrol.

Sgt. Travis Dunsford said, “We’re all family so when you hear of one of your family members possibly hurt, it definitely makes you a little more nervous when you’re headed to the scene.”

It’s always difficult for law enforcement to respond to a call involving one of their own and for Sgt. Travis Dunsford with the Pascagoula Police Department he was faced with that moment on New Year’s Eve. “The vehicle, once he hit, our officer actually went off and hit another tree. So, it caused additional damage and then seeing it literally feet from hitting a house. It looked pretty bad, debris all over the place.”

Just before midnight, Officer Ernie Snyder and his K9 partner Tony were headed westbound down Catalpa to assist an officer on a call when a drunk driver headed eastbound swerved into him, nearly hitting the officers head on.

The driver was not injured and was arrested for driving under the influence and luckily for Officer Snyder and Officer Tony they didn’t sustain any major injuries.

If there’s anything Sgt. Dunsford wants learned from this experience, it’s to just do the right thing, don’t drink and drive. “It’s not worth it at all, especially now, it’s so easy to get on an app on your phone, call one of your friends. It is so easy to get a ride nowadays that it’s definitely not worth the price that you pay. You know he could have hurt this officer, and could have spent prison time for felony charges if he caused injury.”

Officers Snyder and Tony are at home resting and should return in no time.