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Warrant: Prescription drugs in car that crashed into officer's cruiser

By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
cwootson@charlotteobserver.com

Police are trying to figure out whether a woman who crashed head-on into a police officers' car last week was under the influence of prescription drugs, according to a search warrant.

The driver of the Jeep Liberty has not been charged with a crime. Police say witnesses on July 5 saw her cross the double yellow line on Steele Creek Road near Interstate 485 and hit the cruiser of Officer Jim Guard.

It took 30 firefighters 35 minutes to free Guard from his mangled cruiser. He was flown to Carolinas Medical Center by helicopter. His condition was not available late Monday.

The woman was taken to the hospital by ambulance, but she has since been discharged. In the search warrant, investigators say they obtained a tube of the woman's blood and a cup of her urine for testing. The warrant calls the blood and urine "invaluable pieces of evidence in order to be able to reconstruct this collision event."

The warrant says numerous prescription bottles were found in the Jeep Liberty and the woman's purse.

The warrant says investigators found prescription medication with labels that warned users to avoid driving. The drugs included Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug and Amlodipine Besylate, a drug used to treat high blood pressure whose label warns: "This drug may impair the ability to drive or operate machinery and may cause dizziness."

Numerous other medication bottles were found in the woman's possession, according to the search warrant, including Hydrocodone (Vicodin), Gabapentin (a pain reliever), and Ambien, a sleep aid.

The crash happened on a sunny afternoon. Guard was driving southbound on Steele Creek Road near Interstate 485, and the Liberty was coming from the other direction. Guard has worked for CMPD since 1989, most recently in the Freedom Division. WCNC-TV contributed.

Cleve R. Wootson Jr.: 704-358-5046

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