NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Metro Nashville police officer is out of the hospital following an early morning crash on Saturday.
Metro police say a driver ran a red light at the intersection of Murfreesboro Pike and Hamilton Church Road, colliding with Officer Clayton Smith's police car shortly before 4 a.m.
Smith - who has been with MNPD for three years - was off duty and driving home in his unmarked police vehicle. He had just finished working the Entertainment District Initiative Friday night and early Saturday morning.
![Officer Clayton Smith.jpg](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6c8d9fb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1200x1800+0+0/resize/960x1440!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0c%2F4a%2Ff409516248c7b46a7eddf313d98e%2Fofficer-clayton-smith.jpg)
The other driver, Elijah Dowling, 27, appeared to be impaired. A blood sample was taken via search warrant, and it will be analyzed by the MNPD crime laboratory.
Dowling was arrested and is charged with vehicular assault and DUI. His bond is set at $5,000.