Firefighters Hurt While Trying To Help DUI Suspect
SACRAMENTO COUNTY (CBS13) – Two firefighters were hurt early Friday morning while trying to help a driver seen asleep at the wheel.
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesperson Lisa Bowman said that a Metro Fire crew was called to Watt Avenue and Elverta Road around 12:30 a.m. after someone reported seeing a driver who looked to be passed out inside a car. The car's engine was reportedly still running.
Two firemen are said to have walked up to assess the situation, only for the driver to suddenly put the car in reverse and accelerate – carrying the firemen about 200 feet until the car crashed into a tree.
The firemen were freed from the car when it hit the tree, but the driver put the car in drive and sped off onto the street, hitting a parked car along the way.
Authorities later found the car parked and empty in a driveway at a home along the 7000 block of Ort Way. A sheriff's department K9 found the driver – 23-year-old Leontiy Kapakly – hiding in a backyard.
Both firemen are expected to be OK. One was treated at the scene while the other was taken to the hospital.
Kapakly is facing DUI causing great bodily injury and assault with a deadly weapon charges.
