CHANDLER, Ariz. – A suburban Phoenix officer has died after being hit by a suspected drunken driver, becoming the second officer from the Chandler Police Department to be killed in motorcycle crashes this week.
Police say 37-year-old Officer David Payne was stopped at a red light early Friday when a vehicle struck his motorcycle from behind.
Police spokesman Joe Favazzo says the other driver left the scene, but officers stopped him a short time later and took him into custody.
Authorities say the suspect, believed to be impaired by alcohol, would be booked into jail on suspicion of manslaughter and hit-and-run.
Payne's death follows another Chandler officer's this week. Authorities say Officer Bryant Holmes was riding his motorcycle to work Tuesday when he was struck by an SUV that ran a red light. That driver stopped.