A St. Tammany Sheriff’s deputy suffered minor injuries Wednesday morning when a pickup truck collided with his cruiser on Gause Boulevard near Military Road just outside Slidell city limits.

The deputy was treated and released from the Slidell Memorial Hospital.

“He’s pretty sore, but OK,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. George Bonnett said Thursday. “But his car is totaled.”

This Sheriff'€™s car was heavily damaged during a Wednesday afternoon accident on Gause Boulevard East in Slidell. State Police troopers and Sheriff'€™s deputies can be seen in the background examining the pickup truck that was also involved in the accident. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)

The driver of the truck, Teather Matherne, 27, of Pearlington, Miss., suffered moderate injuries, according to State Police Troop L spokesman Senior Trooper Louis Calato. He remained in Slidell Memorial Hospital Thursday morning, Calato said.

At the time of the accident, Deputy Emanuel Smith, 34, was heading east on Gause Boulevard in a Code 3 mode with lights and sirens on in his 2005 Ford Crown Victoria. Calato said Smith was responding to an alarm at the Capital One bank at the intersection of Gause and Military Road.

Matherne, driving a 2001 Dodge pickup truck, was driving west on Gause when she went into the turning lane in the 2200 block to make a left turn into a private drive.

Calato said investigators believe Matherne did not see Smith’s police car and proceeded to cross Gause, colliding with the sheriff’s vehicle.

The truck skidded and was turned around by the impact so that it was facing eastbound traffic on Gause, and its left rear tire was ripped from the wheel well. Smith’s cruiser, which came to a stop about 100 feet away in front of a Wendy’s restaurant, had extensive damage to the passenger side of the car, along with a smashed front hood and windshield.

Many deputies from the Sheriff’s Office responded to the accident, and at one point Gause Boulevard was lined with a number of police cars.

Calato said Matherne was cited and charged with making an unsafe turning movement.

“She failed to check out if it was safe to turn,” Calato said.