Officer William Tinkle of the Krugerville Police Department was seriously injured while offduty and on his way home Monday morning.
Tinkle, who has served Krugerville for around 13 years, considers himself lucky while recovering from a car accident involving a fourdoor passenger vehicle that was eastbound on Arvin Hill Road.
“This is why I do what I do,” he said. “That’s why I’m so big on traffic, because I want people to get home and get home safe. I’ve never worried about whether people liked me or not. It’s all about safety. I love everybody that goes through my community, if I know them or not.”
On Monday, he lived through a nearly worstcase scenario.
'Tinkle was southbound on 377 approaching Arvin Hill Road, and the vehicle was sitting at Arvin Hill Road,' KVPD Chief James Edland said. 'We don't know if it ran the stop sign or just didn't see Officer Tinkle.'
Tinkle struck Carlos Daniel Torres Elizondo's vehicle, sending Tinkle 'off to the east before he hit the ditch and then he hit a tree right there on the edge of the right of way for the highway,' Edland said.
Aubrey Police Department, Cross Roads Police Department and the Department of Public Safety responded to the accident, with DPS taking over the case from Krugerville PD to eliminate any conflict of interest in the investigation.
Both men were transported via ambulance to the hospital, where Elizondo was arrested by DPS on a charge of intoxication assault with a vehicle causing serious bodily injury, a third-degree felony, and he was placed on an ICE hold in custody.
Tinkle suffered three fractures in his leg, including “one where the femur meets the knee,” a broken right wrist and two breaks in his nose.”
Members of the community stopped to help Tinkle, and area first responders came to his aid quickly as well, KVPD said.
The KVPD said in a social media comment Monday, 'Officer Tinkle was treated for serious, nonlife- threatening injuries he sustained during the vehicle accident and will undergo surgery tomorrow. As of now, he is fighting through the pain and is doing well given the unfortunate circumstances. We will pass on all of your encouraging words and prayers to Officer Tinkle.'
Community members have rallied behind Tinkle, raising $3,695 of the $12,000 goal as of Wednesday morning via a Go-FundMe account.
To donate, visit gofundme. com/f/officer-tinkle- needs-our-communityshelp.
“The outreaching of support is freaking amazing,” Tinkle said. “Just being able to read … the post on Facebook and everyone that’s calling, it’s really touching and that’s why I love my community as much as I do.”
His boss and friend described it well.
'It was a really bad accident,' Edland said. '… I'm thankful he's alive, very thankful, because I have opened car doors [on] vehicles like that and people were not alive. … He's got some major injuries, but he will heal up, he'll be OK and it will all work out.'
