Responding Puerto Rico Officer Killed in Crash

A Puerto Rico police officer was killed early Monday when the cruiser in which he was a passenger crashed while responding to a call.

Agent Mariano Rodríguez-Maldonado, 37,  and his partner were on the way to a call for a mentally ill person causing a disturbance at a gas station in Luquillo at approximately 3:30 a.m., according to ODMP.

They were traveling along PR-3 when their patrol car left the roadway at the intersection of Fortuna and struck the highway divider, which impaled the vehicle's passenger side. Rodríguez-Maldonado suffered fatal injuries. His partner suffered severe leg injuries.

He had served with the Puerto Rico Police Department for seven years.