Police officer badly hurt in crash

An Indianapolis police officer suffered critical injuries when a suspected hit-and-run driver pulled his car into the path of the officer's cruiser Sunday night, triggering a second crash with another vehicle. Police say the Officer Santos Cortez was responding to reports of hit-and-run crashes in a parking lot on the city's west side when the suspect’s car ran a stop sign and forced the squad car into oncoming traffic, where it was hit again by a pickup truck. The officer, who was ejected from the vehicle, has been upgraded to serious but stable condition. Jerrel Watkins, 27, was preliminarily charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated resulting in serious bodily injury. The driver and a passenger in the pickup truck suffered minor injuries.