COLUMBUS, Ind. (WISH) - A stray dog wandered onto I-65 in Columbus Sunday and the effort to rescue it led to a tragic accident. A Columbus animal control officer is recovering at Methodist Hospital with serious injuries after being struck by a pickup truck on I-65.

Both police and animal control officers spent 45 minutes trying to rescue a dog that had cars weaving and slamming on the brakes on I-65 in Columbus. The attempt ended when a truck hit officer Mike Briner.

Briner, who is also a noted nature photogrpaher, suffered multiple broken bones, including a broken arm that required surgery, along with puncture wounds and a concussion.

The accident happened when a pickup swerved into the emergency lane to avoid stopped traffic. That's where the 50-year-old Briner and another officer were standing, police officer John Velten leaped to safety.

"Traffic had slowed almost to a stop," said Columbus Police spokesman Lt. Joe Richardson, "And a vehicle driven by Cody Whitis had not slowed up enough to avoid crashing into the other cars and attempted to use the emergency strip to avoid the other cars. Unfortunately our officer and Mike were there."

The driver of the pickup, 20 year old Cody Whitis, won't be charged.

"It's not my impression that it was an excessive speed, again, all that stuff's still under investigation. I think what we have here is an unfortunate accident.. just had not given himself enough time to slow to a stop with the rest of traffic," Lt. Richardson explained.

Lt Richardson said Briner will recover from his injuries.

Meantime, the dog responsible for the unfortunate series of events was never caught. It was last seen squeezing under a fence and heading away from the interstate.

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/south_central/Dog_on_highway_leads_to_accident_20091004