LOUISVILLE, KY. (THECOUNT) — Roger Burdette, the suspect arrested after allegedly failing a field-sobriety test following Monday’s deadly crash on Interstate 64 that killed a police officer, admitted to “taking multiple prescription drugs,” according to his arrest report.
Burdette, 60, killed LMPD Det. Deidre Mengedoht, 32, a seven-year veteran of the force, who was pronounced dead at the scene after being struck by a vehicle while conducting a traffic stop.
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Burdette was arrested on a DUI charge back in 1998, but he pleaded that case down to a reckless operation charge and paid a small fine, according to records.
The crash took place on I-64 east between Ninth and Third streets, just under the Belvedere in downtown Louisville. The investigation that followed kept the busy corridor closed for about 10 hours on Christmas Eve. Mengedoht was conducting a traffic stop in the far right lane when Burdette, and MSD employee driving an MSD truck, slammed into the rear of the LMPD cruiser she was sitting in at the time.
“(Burdette) made no attempt to avoid collision with police vehicle causing it to strike a (third) vehicle,” the arrest report said. source
Burdette is now charged with murder and operating under the influence, and is being held at Metro Corrections on $200,000 cash bond.
The investigation is ongoing.