ARLINGTON, TX — A police officer was hospitalized with second-degree burns on July 23 after his patrol car caught fire when it was hit by a sport/utility vehicle driven by a suspected drunken driver, according to an Associated Press report on July 24. The Ford Crown Victoria patrol car was struck from behind after it had just pulled over a vehicle on Interstate 30. He was listed in serious but stable condition at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas on Friday afternoon, July 23. The driver of the SUV, was arrested on two counts of suspicion of intoxication assault and was being held on $50,000 bail at the Arlington City Jail. He suffered minor injuries. All 146 of Arlington’s patrol cars are fitted with gas tank shields, which Ford recommended in response to the string of fiery crashes. Moses’ 2003 Crown Victoria was one of 40 in the fleet that had a factory-installed shield. Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said dozens of Crown Victoria patrol cars are struck from behind each year with no resulting fire. “As long as there are drunk drivers and people speeding, there’s no way to completely ensure that there will be no crashes and fires,” she told The Dallas Morning News. “It’s not the vehicle. It’s the nature of the work that police do.”