SMPD chief calls it ‘a miracle’ after officer survived hit by suspected drunk driver

San Marcos police chief Chase Stapp believes it’s a miracle that SMPD officer Claudia Cormier survived being struck by an SUV Saturday night. 

Cormier, a three-year SMPD veteran, responded to a traffic hazard call around 9:45 p.m. on Saturday near mile marker 202 on northbound Interstate 35. Moments later she was struck by a 2000 Ford Expedition. The impact from the vehicle severed Cormier’s right leg, Stapp said.

A nurse, who works at Ascension Seton-Hays Medical Center, stopped to render aid before officers could arrive to the scene. The nurse applied three makeshift tourniquets out of T-shirt material to stop Cormier’s bleeding, which likely saved her life, Stapp said.