DES MOINES – A police officer and his K9 companion in Iowa’s capitol city were hurt in a near-head-on collision.
The Des Moines Police Department says the incident took place on the morning of July 9, 2024, when a patrol car was struck by another vehicle in the Historic East Village neighborhood. At approximately 7:08 am that day, a Des Moines Police Department K9 Unit officer
notified the Des Moines Police Department Communications Center, via radio, that he had been involved in a crash in the 200 block of SE 6th Street. The injured officer was trapped in his vehicle following the crash. Des Moines Fire Department firefighters mechanically extricated the injured officer from the vehicle.
The preliminary investigation, including witness statements and examination of evidence at the scene, indicates that a southbound pickup truck crossed over into the northbound lanes of SE 6th Street, crashing into the patrol car and a parked vehicle before coming to a stop.
The officer, a 49-year-old male and 23-year-veteran of the Des Moines Police Department, Dao Meunsaveng, was hospitalized in serious / stable condition. The K9, Bero, an 8-year-veteran of the Des Moines Police Department, was treated and released from an
emergency veterinary hospital.
The driver of the pickup truck, a 41-year-old male, was hospital in good / stable condition.
(PHOTO via DMPD.)