Garland officer accused of striking woman while driving intoxicated on New Year’s Day

A Garland police officer is on administrative leave after being accused of hitting a woman while driving intoxicated in Farmers Branch on New Year’s Day, authorities say.

According to an arrest-warrant affidavit obtined by KDFW-TV (Channel 4), Louis Jerel Ellis, 32, faces a charge of intoxication assault with a vehicle.

The affidavit says Ellis was driving while intoxicated on Saturday and caused serious bodily injury to 25-year-old Jameka Brown, KDFW-TV reported. It is unclear exactly where the crash occurred.

Lt. Pedro Barineau, a Garland police spokesman, said Ellis was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal investigation, which is being led by Farmers Branch police.

“We expect our officers to conduct themselves professionally at all times and hold them to the highest standard whether they are on or off duty,” Barineau said.

Ellis has been with the Garland Police Department for two years. It was unclear whether he had an attorney.

Farmers Branch officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and no additional information about the case was available.

Jaquita Brown, Jameka Brown’s sister, told KDFW that she had gotten into a fender-bender and that her sister was out of the car taking pictures of the other vehicle when she was struck by a speeding vehicle that hopped the curb.

Jaquita Brown told the station that Ellis did not get out of his car at first and instead made phone calls before walking over, “saying he didn’t hit her.”

Temika Wesley, Jameka Brown’s mother, wrote on a GoFundMe page that her daughter was thrown more than 20 feet by the impact and suffered multiple broken bones, including her femur, ribs and pelvis, along with lacerations on her kidneys and lungs. Her lungs collapsed during one surgery and she was placed on a ventilator in the ICU, Wesley said.

Brown has since been taken off the ventilator but will need to use a wheelchair for three to six months, KDFW reported.