# Austin police officer struck and killed by patrol car



## Gil (Jun 15, 1998)

Austin police officer struck and killed by patrol car
10/31/2004 11:43 AM
By: Jitin Hingorani

Austin police officer Amy Donovan was killed Saturday night when she was pinned between a police car and a power pole.

Austin police Chief Stan Knee said Amy Donovan was a "determined police officer."
Donovan and her partner Adrian Valdovino, both of whom had been on the police force for four months, were patrolling an East Austin neighborhood when they saw a person
engaged in "suspicious activity".

Donovan exited the car to pursue the suspect, and Valdovino reversed the patrol car to try to block the suspect. That's when Valdovino struck Donovan.

Donovan died early Sunday morning at Brackenridge Hospital.

Neighbors said they saw and heard the accident.

Officer killed

Amy Donovan was killed when she was struck by a patrol car on Saturday night.

"I watched her die, man. He backed into her. He had to be doing 60 miles an hour man," Robert Funchess said.

Austin police officials said Valdovino has been placed on administrative leave while the department investigates the situation.

"Amy was described not only as a wife and mother of four children, but as a determined police officer who took to heart the responsibility that came with being commissioned as a police officer in the city of Austin," police Chief Stan Knee said.

Donovan was the 19th officer overall and the first female Austin police officer to loose her life in the line of duty.

http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=123412


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## 1153 (Oct 2, 2004)

That's a horrible tragedy , my heart goes out to them.


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