What to Know
- Officer Jacob Arellano was hit by a wrong-way driver while driving to work late Tuesday night. He died at a hospital Wednesday morning.
- Arellano is survived by his infant son, girlfriend, parents and a brother who is also an officer with the Dallas Police Department.
- The driver of the wrong-way vehicle may have been intoxicated, police say, and charges have not yet been filed.
A Dallas police officer died Wednesday morning after being critically injured in a wrong-way crash while headed to work overnight.
Dallas Chief of Police Eddie Garcia said 25-year-old Police Officer Jacob Arellano died at about 9:40 a.m. Wednesday of unspecified injuries from the crash.
"Rest easy brother," Garcia said in a tweet while asking for prayers for Arellano's infant son, girlfriend and family.
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During a briefing Wednesday afternoon, Garcia said Arellano had been a member of the Dallas Police Department since June 2019 and was assigned to the Northwest Patrol Division's first watch.
"This is a tragedy for our department," Garcia said. "Here is an officer driving to work to protect our city in full uniform when his life was taken. He was reporting to work -- in his morning roll call Officer Arellano's name was called like it always is at the start of his shift and Officer Arellano didn't answer."
Garcia said members of the northwest patrol's first watch started calling to try to locate Arellano and soon learned he'd been seriously injured in a car crash.
"Today my thoughts, all of our thoughts, are with Officer Arellano's parents, his girlfriend, their infant son and Jacob's brother who also proudly serves as a Dallas police officer," Garcia said. "Please, tonight I ask you to keep our department, our men and women, in your prayers. Today the Dallas Police Department Northwest Patrol and especially the first watch sergeant who called out his name only to have no one answer. We are all living our worst nightmare. Today we lost one of our own."
At about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, before the department publicly confirmed Arellano's death, officers gathering outside of Methodist Medical Center in Dallas were seen placing black mourning bands across their badges, a common practice to recognize the death of a fellow officer.
Shortly before 3 p.m., a procession escorted Arellano's body from the hospital.
The news spread far and fast. New Mexico State University, where Arellano was a student-athlete, released this statement:
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of former Aggie football player Jacob Arellano. Jacob was an outstanding young man, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends."
Funeral arrangements for Arellano are pending.
DALLAS OFFICER HIT BY WRONG-WAY DRIVER
According to the Dallas Police Department, Jacob Arellano was in the middle lane of Spur 408 near Kiest Boulevard when a driver in a sedan headed northbound in the southbound lanes crashed into Arellano's SUV at about 11:48 p.m.
The crash caused Arellano’s vehicle to travel into the right lane where it was hit by a tractor-trailer, police said. Arellano’s vehicle then rolled several times and stopped on the right shoulder of Spur 408.
Arellano was hospitalized in critical condition. Just after sunrise, Garcia published a tweet asking for prayers for the injured officer.
"Prayers up Dallas! One of our Dallas PD officers, reporting for his watch late last night, was struck head-on by a wrong-way driver in a major collision and is fighting in critical condition. Our prayers are with our officer and his family," Garcia said.
Arellano died sometime Wednesday morning of unspecified injuries. The wrong-way driver was taken to a local hospital in serious condition, and the tractor-trailer driver was not injured, police said.
Dallas Police said Wednesday afternoon that the preliminary investigation indicates the wrong-way driver may have been intoxicated. The investigation into the crash is ongoing and no charges have been filed.
The identity of the wrong-way driver has not been released and it's not yet clear what charges the driver will face.
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