DUI Charge For Man Who Hit 2 Cops

Two St. Petersburg Police Officers found themselves hospitalized early Monday morning after their cruisers were struck by a suspected drunk driver.

According to the agency, Officer Douglas Carruthers, 33, and Sgt. Candace Marklin, 43, were investigating a DUI crash around 3:30 a.m. in the area of 24th Avenue and 4th Street North. The crash the two were investigating involved a vehicle that struck a Papa John’s 18-wheeler, the agency wrote in an email to media.

The officers, who were in their cruisers at the time, were struck by a Crown Victoria. Carruthers suffered neck and knee injuries while Marklin sustained neck injuries, the email stated.

The driver of the Crown Victoria refused medical treatment, the agency noted.

Following an investigation, the Crown Vic’s driver, Raymond Richardson, 41, was charged with DUI with bodily injury, the department said.

The agency has not yet released the officers’ names nor the driver’s.

Marklin and Carruthers were taken to a local hospital for treatment. Both have since been released, the agency noted.

The crash closed the intersection of 4th Street North and 24th Avenue for a time.

Booking photo courtesy of the St. Petersburg Police Department