Deputy Recovering After Being Hit During I-40 Traffic Stop

A Canadian County Deputy is recovering in the hospital tonight after he was hit by a car this morning while conducting a traffic stop near Interstate-40 and Garth Brooks Boulevard in Canadian County.

Deputy Jose Tayahua-Mendoza, 46, pulled over a vehicle for an improper tag display. While he was out of his car, a white truck ran into the deputy's vehicle, the car that had been pulled over and Mendoza himself, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

“When the other motorist struck that other person’s vehicle it hit the deputy and he ended up in the ditch,” Preston Cox with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.

Related: 1 Deputy Injured In I-40 Accident, Transported To Hospital

Neighbors near the highway say they heard a large crash around 7:30 a.m.

Deputy Mendoza was taken to OU Medical center, OHP says, he sustained arm, leg and foot injuries. As for the other driver involved in the traffic stop, their condition is unknown now. The truck driver is okay but was taken to the hospital to be checked out.

"Everything is still under investigation. Obviously, our traffic homicide unit is working to get that information, including speed," said Trooper Cox.

The names of both drivers have not been released at this time, but OHP does say the truck driver is cooperating with investigators.

“The force was significant enough to push that vehicle through the sound barrier wall directly northwest of that location,” Cox said.

OHP believes the driver of the white truck was tired at the time.

There was a heavy presence of police and other emergency crews on the scene, which caused a traffic backup.

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