Cochise County deputy seriously injured while trying to apprehend smuggling suspect

COCHISE COUNTY, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — A Cochise County sheriff’s deputy is hospitalized after suffering serious injuries while trying to stop an alleged smuggler on Thursday night.

The incident occurred shortly before 9 p.m. along State Route 80 near milepost 329, about 12 miles north of Bisbee, while deputies were trying to stop a suspected smuggler from escaping in a car. According to Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, one of his deputies was deploying spikes across SR 80 to flatten the suspect’s tires when he reportedly fell 15 feet. It’s unclear what he fell from.

Dannels says crews applied “life-saving measures” to the deputy, and he was flown to a trauma center in Tucson. His current condition is unknown.

“Tonight, my immediate concern is the medical care for my deputy and embracing the deputy’s family,” Dannels said in a Facebook post on Thursday night. He also noted it was the third time over the course of several days that citizens and deputies had been placed in harm’s way “by reckless and violent criminal smugglers” because the border was being neglected by the federal government. See his full post below:

Sheriff Mark DANNELS Issues Statement : This evening, during an interdiction attempt to stop a smuggler driver fleeing...
Posted by Cochise County Sheriff's Office - Mark J. Dannels Sheriff on Thursday, September 28, 2023

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