A jury has found a former Wichita police officer not guilty in a crash that severely injured another driver.
Samuel Dugo was an officer with the Wichita Police Department when the crash happened almost two years ago.
At about 10:38 p.m. on March 16, 2018, a citizen called 911 to report a burglary in progress. Dugo and other officers started to head to the scene.
As Dugo approached the intersection of Pine and Broadway in downtown, a motorist driving a Ford Ranger pickup pulled out from a stop sign and attempted to cross the intersection.
Dugo was driving a WPD Chevy Tahoe. The two vehicles collided in the intersection. The motorist was ejected from his vehicle and suffered severe injuries. That driver, a Sedgwick County detention deputy, spent three weeks in the hospital.
An investigation by the Kansas Highway Patrol determined Dugo was not using his emergency lights and sirens when traveling 79 miles per hour in a posted 30-miles-per hour zone.
Dugo was charged with aggravated battery in July of 2019. He has been off the force since August of 2019.
The jury in his trial returned a not guilty verdict Friday.