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Civilian dies, two Johnson County law enforcement officers injured in separate incidents

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Posted at 11:50 AM, Jun 25, 2022
and last updated 2022-06-27 14:52:50-04

JOHNSON COUNTY — The Johnson County Sheriff's Office says one civilian died and two law enforcement officers were injured after two crashes within hours of each other.

Around 10 p.m. Friday, a Johnson County deputy was traveling to serve a civil order when another vehicle failed to yield to the right of way for the deputy's car. Both vehicles collided at the intersection of Worthsville Road and Collins Road.

The deputy was taken to an Indianapolis hospital complaining of pain.

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A Johnson County Sheriff’s Office deputy was injured after a crash in Greenwood on June 24, 2022.

Around 3:30 a.m., a Trafalgar police officer saw a truck disregard a stop and began following the truck in the area of State Road 135 and County Road 300S. Both vehicles made it to a T intersection at to County Road 300S and 600W and crashed into the embankment.

The Johnson County Sheriff's Office says both the officer and the other driver had to be extricated from their vehicles.

The truck driver died at the scene and the deputy was taken to an Indianapolis hospital by helicopter.

Johnson County Coroner Mike Pruitt identified the man as Jacob Garrett Roberts, 34, of Nineveh. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma and the toxicology results are still pending.

Trafalgar Police identified the officer Sunday in a Facebook post as Officer Moody. Police said he is in critical condition and was having surgery.

On Monday, Burgess said Moody is still in the hospital in serious condition.

In an email on Monday, Burgess said Moody tried to communicate with dispatch during the chase but he was in a "dead spot" and his radio wasn't working.

Burgess said in an email that the Johnson County Prosecutor was at the scene of the fatal crash in Trafalgar and that the case is under investigation.

WRTV Senior Digital Content Producer Andrew Smith contributed to this report.