Driver checking texts leads to wreck with police officer : Weather : MySouthwestGA.com

Driver checking texts leads to wreck with police officer

by FOX 31 News Team

Posted: 01.01.2013 at 2:06 PM

FOX 31 News Team

The FOX 31 News Team covers Southwest Georgia 24/7

Officers took pictures of the damage sustained to the police cruiser after the wreck. / Albany Police Department

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ALBANY, GA -- An Albany police officer is injured and sent to the hospital after an early morning car wreck caused by a driver checking a text message.

Investigators say that 23-year-old Lauren Owens was texting on her phone around 2:30 AM Tuesday morning while travelling on West Broad Avenue.

Officers say that while checking a text, she collided with a parked Ford Crown Victoria owned by Timmie Shelton III. Owens then proceeded to hit a parked police car with 44-year-old officer Garnet Lincey inside.

Lincey was transported to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital and was released later Tuesday morning. Officials with the department say the officer is ok and at home resting.

Owens faces citations of failure to maintain lane and not having a driver's license on her at the time of the wreck and has been charged with texting while driving.

Stay connected to MySouthWestGA.com as the story develops and the FOX 31 newscast at 10 PM.

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