Caddo Deputy Recovering from Car Crash

A Caddo Parish Sheriff's deputy is recovering this afternoon at University Health after his patrol car was hit by an SUV this morning on I-220.  

The Sheriff's Office says Deputy Mark McLaughlin had been dispatched just after 11 a.m. to assist a motorist who had pulled over on the inside shoulder of eastbound I-220 between Jefferson Paige Road and Lakeshore Drive.

A Motorist Assistance Patrol unit got there before Deputy McLaughlin and pulled up behind the disabled vehicle.  Deputy McLaughlin then pulled up behind the MAP vehicle and was still in his patrol car with his emergency lights on when his patrol car was struck by an eastbound Yukon driven by 39-year-old Jody Hollis of Bossier City.

The Sheriff's Office says Hollis has told investigators that she was reaching down for her purse when her SUV collided with the patrol car.  The accident is still under investigation by the Caddo Sheriff's Traffic Safety Unit.

Here's another shot of what's left of the patrol car