(Lincoln, NE) -- The Lancaster County Chief Deputy hit a young girl with his truck while she rode her bike.
Lincoln Police say Wednesday night, Chief Deputy Ben Houchin was driving his Dodge Ram 1500 on West Jennifer Street in northwest Lincoln when he says he looked down for a "split second" to change the radio. Investigators say during that split second, Houchin hit a 9 year old girl who was riding her bike through the intersection at Northwest Eighth Street. The three-way intersection has no stop signs, and Houchin told officers that the girl came out of nowhere and that he never saw her.
The girl was taken to a Lincoln hospital with serious, but non-life threatening injuries. Investigators say they do not believe drugs and alcohol played a part in the crash. Houchin has not been cited at this point. The Lincoln Police Department is handling the investigation, while the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office has launched its own internal investigation into Houchin.
Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner issued the following statement following the crash:
I was saddened to hear of the off-duty crash involving Chief Deputy Houchin earlier this week. I can speak for all of us at the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office in saying that we wish the child and her family a quick and speedy recovery. As a parent myself, I cannot imagine the distress this has caused for the child’s parents and family. I know that this event has also been difficult for Chief Deputy Houchin who also has young children of his own.
The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office has high standards for both the on and off duty conduct of its employees. As in all employee-involved incidents, we take steps to determine whether violations of agency policies have occurred and take appropriate action when they have.
Thus far, we have not been provided with any information to indicate that Chief Deputy Houchin violated any LSO policies during this incident. Chief Houchin was off-duty and operating a personally owned vehicle at the time of this crash. He immediately stopped at the scene, rendered aid, and cooperated with the Lincoln Police Department’s investigation of the crash. The preliminary information provided from their investigation indicates that although Chief Houchin looked down to change the station on his car stereo, there were no driver actions that contributed to the crash. The preliminary information also indicates that speed, drugs, and alcohol were not factors in the crash. To date, no citations have been issued.
While we continue to pray for a quick recovery for the child in this case, we will continue to work closely with the Lincoln Police Department as they complete their investigation. We take all employee-involved incidents very seriously and this case will be no different. We ask for the public’s patience as we work to determine the facts in this case.