LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Nevada corrections officer was seriously injured in a wrong-way, rollover crash involving a driver suspected of DUI that closed a portion of U.S. 95 for several hours Friday morning.

The crash occurred between Kyle and Lee Canyon roads just before 5 a.m. and involved two vehicles. Lt. Jonathan Rivera with the Nevada Department of Corrections was in one of the cars headed to work at High Desert State Prison when the head-on crash happened.

“It’s a deadly and long road out there,” said Paul Lunkwitz, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Nevada Department of Corrections.

Wrong-way driver, rollover crash closes US 95 northbound, north of Las Vegas

Lunkwitz told 8 News Now that the other driver is suspected of DUI and was driving in the wrong lane when he struck Rivera’s vehicle, causing both cars to roll over.

Lunkwitz said Rivera’s injuries were critical, adding Rivera had to be taken out of the car with the jaws of life and then flown by medical helicopter to University Medical Center where he was undergoing surgery as of Friday afternoon.

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Lunkwitz said he’s known Rivera for over a decade and is a great lieutenant who touches the lives of many officers in his job.

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